Welsh Government will ‘learn lessons’

The Welsh Government will “continue to learn lessons” about how it communicates its lockdown rules following confusion over a ban on selling nonessential items, the country’s health minister has said.

Vaughan Gething said ministers would ensure retailers understand what can and cannot be sold during the 17-day firebreak, but also discuss how shoppers with “exceptional circumstances” can purchase non- essential items.

It came after Tesco was forced to apologise for wrongly suggesting sanitary products were “non- essential” and so could not be sold due to the new measures in place in Wales.

Replying to a customer who complained she had been told she could not buy sanitary pads at a store in the St Mellons area of Cardiff, Tesco said: “We have been told by the Welsh Government not to sell these items for the duration of the firebreak lockdown.”

The supermarket later said the tweet was sent “by mistake” and said the relevant aisles had been closed off after a break-in at the store.

Yesterday, Mr Gething said the regulations and guidance would be reviewed to make sure they were being applied “fairly and consistently”.

He told the Welsh Government’s coronavirus press briefing: “If there are anomalies, we will look at whether the guidance needs to be revised or strengthened, to make it clear that supermarkets have some discretion to sell to people who are in genuine need.”

Mr Gething said he recognised the ban on selling non-essential items was “difficult” and “hard for people to accept”.

And he admitted the Welsh Government would “continue to learn lessons about how we do our job effectively in communicating with stakeholders, the public, but not losing sight of the fact that this is a public health emergency”.

Discussions with supermarkets would focus on how shoppers with “exceptional circumstances” can purchase non- essential items during the firebreak lockdown, he said, before suggesting shoppers could “discreetly” make their needs known to staff.

Mr Gething said he was “very saddened” to hear of the exchange involving Tesco on Twitter.

“It’s an incorrect reading of the regulations and the guidance. I am very sorry that this woman was given this information ,” he said.

“Supermarkets are open and trading as are many other shops and are able to sell the wide range of everyday items that we all need.”

The Tesco store in Chepstow, just over the Welsh border, is affected by the firebreak.