WALES SHUTS TO COVID HOTSPOTS
PEOPLE FROM PARTS OF UK WITH HIGHEST RATES OF CORONAVIRUS WILL BE BANNED FROM TRAVELLING INTO WALES
WALES will ban entry to people from areas of the UK with high levels of coronavirus from tomorrow if Boris Johnson fails to impose UK-wide travel restrictions, the First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned.
Mr Drakeford yesterday told the Senedd he had asked for work on the travel ban to be brought forward after the Prime Minister failed to reply to two letters requesting he introduce the measure across the UK.
The Welsh Government’s plans will bring people elsewhere in the UK in line with measures currently in place in the 17 areas of Wales – including Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and the boroughs of Caerphilly, Bridgend and Merthyr Tydfil – under local lockdown restrictions.
Under those rules, people must not enter or leave an affected area without a reasonable excuse such as work or education.
But currently, people living in Covid-19 hotspots elsewhere in the UK are free to enter areas of Wales not under restrictions where levels of the virus are low.
The ban is likely to apply to people living in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas of England.
It will also affect those living in areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland with a high prevalence of Covid-19.
Those who ignore the restrictions will be breaking the law and could face fixed-penalty notices.
Addressing MSs in the Senedd, Mr Drakeford said: “No reply from the Prime Minister has been received in reply to my request.
“I have therefore asked for the necessary work to be brought forward which would allow for devolved powers to be used to prevent people travelling into Wales from high-prevalence areas of the United Kingdom.”
The First Minister added: “The timetable for the powers that we have in Wales is to do it by the end of the week.”
He said the deadline would give “more time for the Prime Minister of the UK Government to do the things that we have asked him to do. To do the same thing for people who live in England as we have done for the people who live in Wales”.
Mr Drakeford said the restrictions would only apply to “hotspot” areas. Currently, these include the likes of Liverpool, which has more than 800 cases per 100,000 people.
He said: “Evidence from public health professionals suggests coronavirus is moving from east to west across the UK and across Wales.
“As a general rule, it is concentrating in urban areas and then spreading to more sparsely populated areas as a result of people travelling.
“Much of Wales is now subject to local restriction measures because levels of the virus have risen and people living in those areas are not able to travel beyond their county boundary without a reasonable excuse.
“This is designed to prevent the spread of infection within Wales and to other areas of the UK.
“We are preparing to take this action to prevent people who live in areas where there are higher Covid infection rates across the UK from travelling to Wales and bringing the virus with them.
“I am determined to keep Wales safe.”
In practice, it is understood that from 6pm tomorrow people from areas with high-prevalence rates of the virus would be restricted from travelling to Wales.
In England, this would apply to anyone from areas in the top two tiers of alert in the system now in place over the border – those deemed to have “high” and “very high” risk levels, where social mixing is prohibited indoors and in private gardens, and where pubs and bars are shut.
The Welsh Government says there is evidence that travel from England is helping to “seed” the virus in Wales.
It fears this may bring the virus into rural communities which have an older population and a healthcare infrastructure less equipped to cope with a spike.
A research paper from the Welsh Government’s Technical Advisory Cell found: “This analysis shows that the proportion of cases that could be related back to new introductions began to rise again during July and August, coinciding with UK-wide lockdown relaxations. This observation/ analysis also supports the conclusions from the analysis of outbreak cases.
“When looking at the situation during the first wave, it is clear that the lockdown restrictions had a significant effect in reducing imports from England/outside Wales. It is also clear that there has been an increase in imports into Wales over the course of the summer.”
However, the paper, which has not
yet been peer reviewed, added “this does not constitute definitive proof” that travel from England was causing an upsurge in cases.
Mr Drakeford noted he had received support from Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, for the travel ban, adding: “Now is the time for the Prime Minister to do the same thing.”
Ms Sturgeon earlier told the Scottish Government’s press briefing she supported Mr Drakeford’s push for travel restrictions to be imposed across the UK, and would not rule out imposing her own.
“I want to be clear today that I back the calls from the First Minister of Wales and I’ll be writing to the Prime Minister today to seek urgent talks on that issue,” she said.
Ms Sturgeon added: “On the specific about travel restrictions, if we think putting formal travel restrictions in places necessary, we will do that and I don’t rule that out – I don’t rule anything out.”
The chief executive of the Welsh NHS, Dr Andrew Goodall, said he would also “welcome any actions that help us have a control of the levels of community transmission” when asked if he was in favour of the travel ban.
Following Mr Drakeford’s announcement, the Welsh Conservative group leader, Paul Davies, claimed in the Senedd that the scientific paper attached to the letter sent to the Prime Minister itself “confirms that the data does not constitute definitive proof in favour of a travel ban”.
Later, Mr Davies said in a statement: “It is incumbent on the First Minister to explain just why he has chosen to act in this way, and what supporting evidence he and his ministers have seen to justify a ban and then publish it so it can be properly scrutinised.
“If he cannot or will not, then he must review and rescind this ban immediately.”
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said: “This announcement is long overdue and I’m pleased to see the Welsh Government finally taking this necessary course of action to protect the people of Wales.”
He added: “Let this be a lesson to Welsh Government. Continued correspondence with Downing Street will not get us the answers we want. We should have learnt our lessons from the first wave: depending on Westminster does not work for Wales.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “It is clear that this virus does not respect geography and any new local spikes need all levels of government to work together.
“We’ve been working closely with the devolved administrations to support communities and businesses and it is disappointing that they have chosen to act unilaterally rather than collaborating with other parts of the UK.
“It is important that people follow their devolved administration’s local guidance.
“From the outset, our guidance has also been very clear that people from very high-prevalence areas should avoid travelling in or out of that area.”
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