Update on indoor hospitality tomorrow
FIRST Minister Mark Drakeford looks likely to make an announcement about when restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs can open indoors.
The First Minister had suggested that if the situation with case rates and vaccination remained positive the Welsh Government would hope to allow venues to reopen by the bank holiday at the end of May.
It is now looking likely he will say they can reopen from May 17 – as they will in England – at a press conference tomorrow.
When asked by BBC political editor Felicity Evans whether he would bring forward indoor hospitality opening to May 17 on the BBC’s Ask the Leaders programme, he replied: “I’ll be making an announcement about that on Friday. I want to do it in the orderly way we do.”
He said as any reopening would be after the election on May 6, he would be giving indications about the forward plan involving hospitality, tourism and “other things as well” if Labour formed a Government after the election.
Venues can open for outdoor bookings from Monday, April 26.
The rules they will have to follow for that are complicated and all contained in a document which is 156 pages long. People are expected to sign in and give their details before being allowed a table. Social distancing and cleaning rules will still apply. There are, however, no time limits for how long you can stay and venues won’t have curfews.
There is an expectation that any indoor opening will also have a large number of rules attached.
During the BBC programme, Mr Drakeford denied he was bringing forward relaxations in a bid to win votes in the election on May 6.
“It is nothing at all to do with electioneering. It’s about following the advice we have about the current state of the virus here in Wales.
“At the moment, before Christmas we had some of the most difficult rates in the UK today we have the very best,” he said.
He said low case rates and high vaccination rates were allowing the Welsh Government to move some measures forward.
Mr Drakeford said that the unexpected announcement on Monday that six people from any number of households can meet outdoors was made to help hospitality venues to plan ahead and be able to take bookings from larger groups.
He said advice from the Chief Medical Officer and scientific advisers was that things are good enough in Wales to take the additional risk.
“Things are good enough in Wales that you can take additional risk that comes from six people from six households meeting,” he said.