No evidence for slowing easing of lockdown in Wrexham

THERE is no evidence to support putting a pause on easing lockdown restrictions in Wrexham, the First Minister has said.

It comes as just two new cases of the coronavirus have been identified after 400 people were tested on the first day of two community testing centres opening in Caia Park and Hightown, Wrexham.

Around 400 more results are still pending, but health officials believe the spread of Covid-19 in the community is lower than previously thought.

Concerns had been raised in Wrexham after the Welsh Government said it would not prevent pubs, restaurants and cafés from reopening on Monday, despite a spike of more than 100 cases in the area in the last fortnight.

However, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the evidence received by the Welsh Government did not support localised restrictions in Wrexham.

At a press conference held yesterday afternoon, he said: “If the evidence were there that reopening places in those communities would put people at risk then we would take a different course of action, but we will rely on the scientific evidence.

“It’s why we’ve carried out the mass testing. I think nearly 800 people will have been tested in those two communities.

“That will give us a real insight into whether the virus is in circulation locally and whether offering people additional freedoms would create new and unacceptable risks. We don’t think from what we have been told so far that that will be the case, but we will follow the evidence wherever it takes us and base our actions on what that evidence tells us.”

A total of eight more cases of the virus were confirmed in Wrexham as a whole yesterday, with four deaths reported in north Wales.

The town’s Maelor Hospital has detailed a reduction of four patients testing positive for Covid-19 within the last 24 hours, down to 63, compared to 67 on Thursday.

Families of people staying in the hospital have expressed worries about the safety of their loved ones following reports of some contracting the virus after being admitted.

They include relatives of 82-year-old Margaret Blaylock, from Connah’s Quay, who died last Saturday after catching the infection at the Maelor.

Mr Drakeford has now offered reassurance that measures are in place to prevent similar cases