Drakeford set to say playgrounds can reopen

PLAYGROUNDS, outdoor gyms and community centres will be opening as planned next week, First Minister Mark Drakeford is expected to announce today.

Mr Drakeford, pictured below, previously said that play areas could be used again provided cases continue to drop and conditions were right.

Welsh Government sources say those criteria have been met.

A source said: “From July 20, playgrounds, community centres and outdoor gyms will be able to reopen gradually over the following weeks as and when safety checks and mitigations are put in place.

“Reopening community centres will help local authorities provide summer holiday play schemes and childcare.”

The exact details of how play areas, outdoor gyms as well as community centres will be allowed to be used again has not been revealed – such as whether people will have to use hand sanitisers, face masks or social distance.

However, the move is seen as a positive sign of things starting to slowly return to normal.

The news comes as Public Health Wales revealed that no coronavirus deaths have been reported in Wales for the second time this week.

Public Health Wales (PHW) confirmed yesterday that it had received no reports of deaths with lab-confirmed Covid-19.

It means the overall total recorded by the NHS trust remains at 1,545 since the outbreak began.

However, while things are moving in the right direction, NHS Wales chief executive, Dr Andrew Goodall issued a warning about a possible second wave in the autumn and winter.

Speaking to the Senedd’s health, social care and sport committee yesterday, Dr Goodall warned that a winter peak could be “much more sustained” and at a higher rate.

“Despite looking to reset normal activity quarter by quarter and into the winter, we absolutely need to assume that there will be a second peak, and that we should expect it to be similar, if not worse, than our experiences in

March and

April,” said Dr

Goodall.