THE NEW RULES
WHAT THE LATEST COVID-19 LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS MEAN FOR YOU PLUS FIRST MINISTER DEFENDS THE FIVE-MILE ‘STAY LOCAL’ MESSAGE
THE First Minister has set out the new rule changes which, from Monday, will see people from two different households being able to meet up for the first time since lockdown began.
As first revealed in yesterday’s Echo, the slight relaxation of rules implemented in Wales to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic will come with strict conditions, namely that:
■ people from no more than two households will be able to meet up;
■ the meetings must take place outdoors;
■ social distancing – keeping two metres apart – must be adhered to; and
■ the meetings should involve “staying local” – a definition which was initially given as “within five miles”.
First Minister Drakeford yesterday defended the new five-mile limit – and clarified an exception – in the face of accusations from opposition parties who said it was unfair to rural residents who lived further away from their loved ones.
Mr Drakeford said people would have to “use their own judgment in local geographies”.
“If you have to travel a longer distance than five miles now to get food or medicines, you would be allowed to do that under the stay-at-home regulations, and you are allowed to do so under the stay-local regulations as well,” he said.
“What I’m asking people to do is to use that judgment seriously and soberly.
“The further you travel, the greater the risk that is posed to yourself and others of coronavirus ending up in parts of Wales where we’ve succeeded in keeping it to a minimum. “Nobody, I think, wants to do that.” Andrew RT Davies, Conservative MS for South Wales Central, called on the First Minister to ditch the five-mile rule, saying it was unfair to rural communities.
But Mr Drakeford responded: “We have parts of Wales where there has been very little coronavirus and the last thing we want is for people to be travelling to those areas and taking the virus with them.”
He added: “It’s a sacrifice for those people whose family live further than five miles away, I understand that, and we’ll review this again in three weeks’ time.”
Mr Davies later said: “The First Minister appeared very frustrated at [the daily] briefing but he has only got himself to blame for his arbitrary and farcical five-mile rule in Wales.
“I’ve been inundated today with people getting in touch right across Wales who are confused and upset.
What should’ve been good news for the country is now a mess.
“And rather than clarifying matters, he’s only served to add more confusion by stating that some people in Wales will be able to travel more than five miles to see their family and friends
“This will be impossible to police and my sympathies also go to the authorities who are being placed in a very difficult situation by the Welsh Labour Government.
“This rule is a mistake and Mark Drakeford should acknowledge this and make the necessary changes.”
Mr Drakeford said he believes people in Wales are “comfortable with the careful and cautious approach”, and that he had received letters from residents who were “horrified” at scenes of crowded beaches and beauty spots in England.
He said Wales had “limited headroom” for relaxing restrictions, as the R infection rate in the country remains at 0.8 and was falling more slowly than expected.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The R rate across Wales is no better today than it was three weeks ago, which is why we have only limited headroom to make any difference.
“And that is why we decided to focus on this one measure to allow households to see one another.”
Mr Drakeford also told Good Morning Britain that the new guidelines were not an “invitation” to meet up.
“Running to people’s houses, sitting in gardens close together, having a beer and it all breaking down – that’s definitely not what we are proposing in Wales.”
Asked why Wales wasn’t following the same measures as England given their R rates are similar, Mr Drakeford responded: “Well I could put it the other way to you – why aren’t they following what’s been done in other
parts of the United Kingdom? England isn’t a template for the rest of the UK to follow.
“I think we are still moving in the same direction across the United Kingdom – we’re all moving cautiously, we’re all lifting lockdown – but we’re applying it in our own contexts.”
Another change to rules in Wales will allow weddings and civil partnerships to take place if the bride or groom is terminally ill.
Beauty and tourist spots, however, will remain closed. People will only be allowed to use beaches, if open, if they live within five miles. Sunbathing will be allowed in such cases.
Meanwhile people who are “shielding”, because they have very serious health conditions that make them particularly vulnerable, have been asked to continue to do so.
Around 130,000 people in Wales are currently shielding.
Mr Drakeford said: “I hope we’ll be in a position in the middle of next week for our chief medical officer to write to these people again with advice about how they can go about protecting themselves.”
He added: “They have absolutely not been forgotten.”
The announcement came as Public Health Wales said a further 10 people had died after testing positive for Covid-19, taking its total to 1,317 deaths, though the true number is known to be more than 2,000.
The number of positive cases also grew by 102 to a total of 13,827.
Meanwhile, high-street shops, markets and sports courts in Wales could open next month with a further easing of lockdown measures.
The First Minister said retail businesses which can adhere to the twometre distance rule should start to prepare to reopen over the next three weeks.
The Welsh Government will make a decision on non-essential retailers at the next review of coronavirus measures on June 18, after taking into account scientific and medical evidence.
Mr Drakeford said: “I understand that we’re talking about people’s businesses and livelihoods.
“We’re talking about things people were previously able to do and do it in a very straightforward way.
“We’ve learned a lot, and I want that knowledge to be applied to the non-essential retail sector.
“But to be clear with people, the way we do things in Wales is, we prepare and make things safe, and then we change the law. Not the other way around.”
Next month’s review will also look at increasing capacity for childcare and public transport to help people return to work, help people moving into new homes, reopening outdoor sites, including outdoor showrooms and outdoor museums, and reopening training facilities for non-professional elite athletes.
When asked if he would consider revising the two-metre distance rule in Wales to allow businesses which are unable to keep to it to reopen, the first minister said the Sage scientific advisory panel had issued advice to “stick with it”.
But he warned that the Welsh Government did not have the resources to cover furloughed workers’ wages, ahead of an announcement by Chancellor Rishi Sunak that employers will be asked to contribute about 20% of workers’ wages from August.
He said the Government was in discussions with affected sectors so they could continue using financial help already available through the Welsh Government’s £500m economic resilience fund.