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Pubs in Wales will have to close at 10pm and will only offer table service
Pubs, cafes and restaurants in Wales will have to close at 10pm every night under new measures to control the rising rate of coronavirus, BBC Wales understands.
The measures, which will take effect on Thursday, follow a decision by the UK government to do the same in England.
Alcohol sales outside of licenses and supermarkets will also stop after 10pm.
Pubs will also be required to provide table service only.
Prime Minister Mark Drakeford is expected to reiterate that people should work from home if they can, in a message to be relayed later.
You are also expected to ask people not to travel unnecessarily.
- ‘Closing bars at 10pm cuts your income in half’
The changes are in addition to local lockdown restrictions now in place in six areas of Wales, meaning that people cannot enter or leave them without a good excuse, such as work or education.
Pubs already have to close at 11pm, which means that closing times in all six areas are likely to move an hour earlier.
Figures from Public Health Wales reported 281 more cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, the most cases since April.
In his broadcast, which will follow the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s speech at 20:00 BST, it is understood that Drakeford will warn that the coronavirus could take hold in Welsh communities in the coming weeks and months.
Increase in Covid-19 case rates in South and West Wales
Positive tests at seven days per 100,000 inhabitants
The Cwm Taf Morgannwg board of health, which covers Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf, warned that it is “a matter of weeks” before a sharp increase in hospital admissions in the area.
The tightening of restrictions comes amid a dispute with opposition politicians over whether the announcement should have been made first in the Welsh Parliament.
President Elin Jones previously told the Senedd that she had been told final decisions “probably won’t be made until a little before” 20:00 BST on Tuesday.
After news of the restrictions broke, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price accused the Welsh government of treating the Senedd with contempt.
Welsh conservative Andrew RT Davies said it was disrespectful to Ms Jones, a Plaid Cymru Senedd member who oversees the Parliament for Wales.
