GET READY FOR THE FIREBREAK
FIRST MINISTER SAYS ‘SHARP SHOCK’ WALES-WIDE LOCKDOWN COULD BE ON WAY WITHIN DAYS
THE First Minister has revealed details of Wales’ plan for a “firebreak” lockdown to halt the increasing spread of coronavirus.
Mark Drakeford yesterday said a “short, sharp” lockdown could last for between two and three weeks. A decision on whether to go ahead with the plan will be announced on Monday.
He confirmed the Welsh Government is looking “very carefully” at introducing the time-limited circuitbreaker lockdown.
It is expected that, if ministers do decide to implement the move, it would come into force on Friday.
The Welsh Labour leader also suggested Wales could introduce a new set of national restrictions following a successful reset of the virus, after warning around 2,500 people in the country are currently being infected every day.
It came as a travel ban preventing people from areas of the UK with high levels of coronavirus from entering Wales came into force from 6pm yesterday.
The restriction prevents travel to Wales from areas in England in Tier 2 or 3, as well as the central belt of Scotland, the whole of Northern Ireland, and any other areas which are categorised as high prevalence in future.
Speaking at the Welsh Government’s Covid-19 press briefing, Mr Drakeford said introducing a circuit-break is “the option that is most actively under consideration” for reducing levels of Covid-19.
He said: “We are looking very carefully at introducing a time-limited firebreak, also known as a circuit-breaker, of the type recommended by Sage, the UK’s expert scientific advisory group, and by our own advisers here in Wales.
“This would be a short, sharp shock to the virus which could turn back the clock, slowing down its spread and buying us more time and vital capacity in the health service.
“A firebreak would also, however, be a short, sharp shock to all our lives. We will all have to stay at home once again, to save those lives.
“But this time, it will be for weeks and not months. We are considering a two- or three-week firebreak. The shorter the period, the sharper the measures will have to be.”
The plan could see people confined to their homes and businesses shutting for the duration of the lockdown.
But Mr Drakeford revealed there had been no decision yet taken on whether some types or all schools would be shut during any firebreak lockdown.
He did say the Welsh Government would “do everything it can” to keep schools open.
The introduction of local lockdowns in 17 areas of Wales affecting more than 2.3 million people had slowed the virus, he said, but had “not worked enough”.
Mr Drakeford said ministers will meet over this weekend to discuss the
circuit-breaker option and announce any decisions on Monday.
But he said the country will only stand a chance of getting through the Christmas period if the circuit-break is followed by new nationwide rules.
“A successful firebreak would reset the virus at a lower level,” he said. “Together with a new national set of rules for the whole of Wales after the firebreak period we would have slowed the virus down enough to get us through to Christmas.”
No detail was given about what a new set of Wales-wide restrictions could look like.
“These are incredibly difficult decisions and we have not yet come to a final conclusion about whether a firebreak is the best way to act,” Mr Drakeford added.
Responding to the announcement, the Welsh Conservatives’ shadow health minister, Andrew RT Davies, criticised Mr Drakeford’s plan to announce any new measures at Monday’s televised press conference.
“If it’s so serious there should be an emergency recall of the Welsh Parliament on Monday and a statement given”, he said.
Before the press conference, Mr Drakeford confirmed in a statement that Wales was bringing in the travel ban for UK coronavirus hotspots from yesterday afternoon after he said Boris Johnson had again failed to agree to impose one himself.
The restrictions are intended to help stop the virus moving from urban, highly populated areas with a high prevalence of the virus elsewhere in the UK to more sparsely populated locations in Wales where levels of the infection are currently low.
The First Minister said he could not give a guaranteed date for the travel ban to end, saying it would “depend upon the way that events and circumstances unfold over the next couple of weeks”.
He added: “As I’ve said many times, the fewer people we meet, the fewer journeys we make, the safer we all are, and our arrangements on travel are just designed to reinforce all of that.
“So, while they are necessary to turn back the flow of this deadly virus, while they are necessary to protect our NHS, while they’re necessary to save people’s lives, then those arrangements will have to stay in place.”
He denied his relationship with Mr Johnson is “dead in the water” following a war of words between Cardiff Bay and Westminster, revealing he had received a “reasonably toned” letter from the Prime Minister on Thursday in which he reaffirmed a commitment to work together during the pandemic.
But Mr Drakeford added: “I think it’s damaging to the United Kingdom when we have border disputes, and I wish the Prime Minister had acted differently.”