We should reap the benefits at Christmas time, says Stewart

CHRISTMAS should be less restrictive if everyone pulls together for the Covid “fire-break” than would otherwise have been the case, the leader of Swansea Council has said.

Cllr Rob Stewart said he supported the Welsh Government’s October 23 to November 9 lockdown, saying that early and decisive action worked.

The Swansea Labour leader said council leaders had an opportunity to raise concerns and ask questions of the Welsh Government ahead of today’s decision.

Mr Stewart, who is also the economy spokesman for the Welsh Local Government Association, which represents the country’s 22 councils, said: “I have also been involved in trying to make sure we get the package of support right.

“I think the Welsh Government has put in place a really strong package.”

Ministers will provide almost £300 million to support business during the fire-break.

Mr Stewart said there was flexibility for councils to use their own discretion, for example helping market traders and other businesses which operated from premises they didn’t own and which therefore had missed out on a previous UK Government support fund.

He said: “The Welsh Government has been very constructive.”

Mr Stewart said the hoped-for benefits of the fire-break would not be apparent immediately but would, if all goes to plan, help NHS Wales look after Covid patients, deal with normal winter pressures, and address the backlog of patients who needed planned treatment and operations.

“It is going to help us later in the year,” he said. “And the big pay-off is a less restrictive Christmas than we would have otherwise.”

Cllr Stewart didn’t want to be drawn into a blame game about why cases have risen so steeply in recent weeks.

He said increasing numbers were expected once the economy and schools began to reopen.

There were some people, he said, who had not adhered to the restrictions. “Most people are following the rules,” he said.

Meanwhile, the leader of Neath Port Talbot Council supported the ‘fire-break’ lockdown but warned people should not expect it to instantly affect coronavirus cases.

Councillor Rob Jones said the new restrictions, which see Wales enter another national lockdown from this Friday, are necessary but will not reduce the number of Covid-19 cases in Wales.

He said the Welsh Government and local authorities are expecting the number of coronavirus cases to continue to rise during the lockdown period but “drop down” afterwards.

“The science behind this is not going to show any improvement in the figures because of the incubation period of Covid for 14 days.

“During the time of this national lockdown, the figures are not going to change. They may continue to rise, they may continue to plateau, they may fall.

“When we will see a discerning effect on the figures will be after we come out of this lockdown because the 14-day incubation period.”

The Labour councillor said he expects some people may be frustrated during the two-week lockdown if the number of coronavirus cases in Wales does not fall instantly.

But he said the measures should “put a handbrake on the spread of Covid” and reduce the number of cases after two weeks.

Mr Jones also said the ‘fire-break’ lockdown will not be extended and it will only be in place for two weeks.

“This is a finite lockdown. It’s not going to be a rolling lockdown, it has got a beginning and an end. What we do after that is another discussion.

“This isn’t something we are wanting to do, this is something we are being forced to do. A complacency has crept in and this is the penalty we end up paying for the virus spreading.

“Until there’s a vaccine we are going to have problems with Covid for a considerable period of time because it’s not going to go away.”

According to the new rules, primary schools will reopen after the half-term break, but only Years 7 and 8 can return to secondary schools at the same time.

Mr Jones said schools in Neath Port Talbot are well prepared for home learning and the decision to close them “has not been taken on a whim” but “driven by the science”.

He said primary school and secondary pupils in Years 7 and 8 can return to school sooner because children up to 16 years old are not being identified as super-carriers.

“There is no substantial evidence of internal transmission of the disease in schools,” he said.

“It’s taken into schools and my belief is that this is why they’ve taken a retrograde step to go back to the conditions of no household mixing, no indoor gatherings, etc.”

To prepare for the coming months, the council is seeking vounteers for its ‘Safe and Well’ scheme which puts people living in Neath Port Talbot in touch with volunteers and local services to help them with food shopping, collecting medication and running errands. The service can also arrange for someone to check on a resident’s wellbeing.