‘This firebreak is designed to end on November 9, and that is what it will do’

THE First Minister yesterday explained why the whole of Wales needs to go into lockdown even though parts of the nation have low coronavirus rates.

Asked about whether it was fair to put the whole of Wales into lockdown when, say, Cardiff has a rate of more than 200 cases per 100,000 people while Ceredigion has just an eighth of that rate, Mark Drakeford told BBC Breakfast: “The gap between the low incidence and high incidence areas in Wales has been narrowing over the last 10 days.

“If we don’t take action, it is only a matter of time before even Ceredigion begins to feel the impact of the rising tide.

“In places like Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, they are rural areas of Wales, their hospitals are small which means even a modest rise in coronavirus cases will put the NHS there under real pressure.

“This is the point where we need a genuine, national effort in all areas of Wales. We need all citizens of Wales as part of one, great national endeavour.”

The First Minister also insisted that the 17-day lockdown would not be extended.

He said: “This firebreak is designed to end on November 9, and that is what it will do. We need to make clear that we will not see the results of the lockdown by the November 9 because it takes longer than that for these measures to feed into falls in hospital admissions.

“The period is designed deliberately to be short, but very sharp.

“This is a very difficult time which is why in the end we have gone for the shortest possible period but if you are going to do it shorter, you have to do it deep.”

When asked if Wales had gone too early into a national lockdown, he told BBC Radio Five: “We have gone when we have gone because we think it is important to include half term.

“We need to put the interest of children at the forefront of what we are doing.”

Asked if he could guarantee that if families follow the firebreak lockdown they could meet up for Christmas, he said: “The word guarantee is not one that I can sign up to.

“The aim of this measure, taking it now is that we will be able to get through to Christmas without needing to take further measures of this sort.

“The benefit of this period will not be seen by the end of it, our hope is that it will be sufficient that it will take us through to Christmas without needing to do it again.”