Pubs and restaurants can reopen indoors on August 3 – Drakeford
PUBS, restaurants, bars and cafés in Wales could reopen indoors on August 3, the First Minister has said. The move – the latest proposal to ease lockdown in Wales – would mark a significant moment for the hospitality industry, and would come three weeks after Monday’s outdoors-only reopening of such premises.
Mark Drakeford said indoor service would be allowed as long as the state of coronavirus in the country permitted, and the lifting of restrictions on outdoor hospitality was a success.
The announcement came as Public Health Wales said no new Covid-19 deaths had been recorded in the country for the previous 24 hours for the second time in a week, with the number of deaths remaining at 1,540.
The total number of cases in Wales increased by 10 to 15,939. Yesterday saw confirmation that outdoor team sports and activities including football and fitness classes will be allowed to resume from Monday, along with hair appointments and outdoor service for food and drink.
Mr Drakeford set out a fourweek package of relaxed measures which would see the reopening of playgrounds, outdoor gyms, beauty salons,
campsites and accommodation with shared facilities, cinemas and museums.
The four-week period would culminate with pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes being allowed to welcome customers indoors for the first time since lockdown, as long as conditions allowed.
Mr Drakeford told the Welsh Government’s daily press briefing in Cardiff: “I want to send a clear signal that, provided the reopening of outdoor hospitality goes well, and the state of the virus allows indoor opening for pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants will resume from August 3.”
Mr Drakeford said it would be for the hospitality industry to demonstrate they can open safely indoors in order to give “confidence” to returning customers.
The news will come as a relief to many businesses, some of whom, including pubs owned by Wetherspoons and Cardiff brewery Brains, have said they would not open until they were allowed to have customers indoors.
Many cafe, restraurant and pub owners say it is not economically viable to only open outdoors.
Mr Drakeford said the two-metre social distancing regulations would also be changed, allowing businesses to implement safety measures including erecting protective shields in places where keeping a distance is not practical.
The Welsh Government said: “When two metres cannot reasonably be maintained, the regulations will require businesses to put in place a set of additional measures to minimise the risk of the virus spreading, including taking reasonable steps to minimise close face-toface contact and maintain hygiene.”
The Welsh Government is also discussing with local authorities and other operators how gyms, leisure centres, fitness studios and swimming pools can introduce measures to safely open.
Further work is being undertaken about the risk of coronavirus in swimming pools.
Today sees restrictions on selfcontained holiday accommodation lifted in Wales, followed by the reopening of outdoor hospitality and
allowing hair appointments.
Also from Monday up to 30 people will be allowed to gather outdoors where organised and supervised by a responsible person for sports and other leisure activities, including “low-contact” sports like football as well as dance and fitness classes.
Asked for clarification on which sports can resume under the new easements, Mr Drakeford said: “Football is okay; a rugby scrum is a different matter,” adding that the full contact version of the sport is not allowed to resume.
He said advice and guidance will come from governing bodies of those sports.
Providing the virus remains under control, from Monday, July 20 outdoor gyms, playgrounds and community centres will be able to reopen, while Monday, July 27 will see the reopening of “close-contact services”, including beauty salons, tattoo shops and nail parlours.
On that date, the viewing of occupied homes for rent or sale would also be able to restart in the housing market, and cinemas, museums and galleries will be allowed to reopen.
Campsites and other accommodation with shared facilities would be allowed to reopen two days earlier – on July 25 – to take advantage of the extra weekend.
Mr Drakeford said the number of new Covid-19 cases were falling by about 2% every day, and talked of the promising numbers coming out of the daily figures.
He said: “This week, we saw the first day where no deaths were recorded for the first time since March and deaths reported by Public Health Wales have been in single figures since early June.
“I want to say again that even when numbers fall, these are not just numbers – behind every figure is a person and a grieving family.”
He added: “Together we are making good progress to tackle the spread of this virus. It is thanks to the efforts we have made together that we are able to lift the restrictions and reopen more parts of our society and economy. However, the threat from coronavirus has not gone away and only by all of us acting responsibly will we be able to keep Wales safe. This means maintaining social distancing, thinking carefully about where we go and why.”
He added to the note of caution by pointing to events on the other side of the world.
Mr Drakeford said: “On June 9 the city of Melbourne in Australia recorded a day when there were only two new confirmed cases of coronavirus. Today five million people are in full lockdown again – that’s how quickly things can go wrong. This virus has not gone away. We could find all our hard work undone unless we all go on playing our part, every day, and in every way we can, to keep Wales safe.”
Meanwhile, when asked about the compulsory use of masks in public, Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government was continuing to look at the evidence.
He said he hoped to be able to say something on Monday about wearing masks on public transport where the issue had been “hotly debated”.
However, he admitted there remained concerns around the unintended consequences of wearing a mask, adding that some people felt it gave them “immunity to the virus”.
The First Minister added that there remains no date for the reopening of theatres, concert halls or indoor gyms.
“I think there is evidence in other parts of the world that indoor gyms are places where the virus can flare up,” he said.
Asked whether people should continue to avoid public transport where they can, the First Minister said he is discussing options with train and bus operators about how to create more capacity.
“It is still true that if you do not need to go on a train journey, from a safety point of the view, the best advice is do not go on that train journey,” he said.
However, he conceded the more the economy reopens, the more need there will be for public transport.
“That’s why I hope to be able to say something more about this on Monday,” he said.
Moving on to the topic of jobs cuts across Wales this week, Mr Drakeford commented on the losses at the Celtic Manor.
He said the Welsh Government has provided tens of thousands of pounds of Welsh public money to the venue from the Economic Resilience Fund.
However, he said the conference venue is very unlikely to reopen any time soon and “it’s inevitable, I think, that Celtic Manor had to take that into account”.
However, he said a lot of the eased restrictions announced yesterday would benefit the Celtic Manor, including allowing people to resume playing golf with others and allowing the indoor hospitality industry to resume from August 3.
Continuing on the subject of job losses, Mr Drakeford said he welcomes a number of items in the Chancellor’s statement on Wednesday, but was disappointed there was no sectorspecific scheme for the aerospace or automotive industries.
Airbus, British Airways and General Electric have all announced swingeing job cuts at their various operations around Wales during the pandemic.
Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government can and will play a part in helping these sectors by directing money at skills, apprenticeships, research and development, but it also needs funding from the UK Government.
He added he was hopeful for this support, but “in the end our hopes were disappointed.”
“Wales has a presence of nine out of the 10 of global leading companies in aerospace and airbus is the jewel in the crown,” he said, adding that UK funding is needed to sustain this industry.
Asked about how much communication Wales has had with the UK Government, Mr Drakeford confirmed he had spoken with Michael Gove this week.
“We’ve had contact with the UK Government and I’m pleased to confirm it’s been useful and worthwhile,” he said.
However, he said he has not spoken to the PM since late May.
Mr Drakeford said he wished the conversations occurred more often and more reliably, as it helps them to better understand each others’ perspectives.
The First Minister has previously voiced his frustration at the lack of contact at the highest level between the two administrations during the crisis.