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Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford has revealed the outline of the rules that will apply in Wales when the two-week fire lockdown ends on Monday 9 November.
He was speaking at the Welsh Government press conference on Monday 2nd November. You can follow live updates on that here.
There is also a full breakdown of the new rules that he announced in this article.
The new rules will be reviewed after fifteen days, the Prime Minister said.
Mark Drakeford’s speech announcing the new coronavirus rules in full
Good afternoon
When I spoke with you on Friday, I told you that I would update you on the outcome of the discussions we had over the weekend on the new set of national measures, which will be implemented when the firewall ends next Monday.
The ministers have been meeting throughout the weekend to consider the final details of these measures.
Our plans, and our discussions, have had to adapt to the unexpected announcement by the Prime Minister that England will begin a month-long lockdown on Thursday.
I want to be absolutely clear about our firewall be finish as planned, and as promised, next Monday.
But now we have had to consider the impact that the English blockade will have on the next steps we take in Wales.
We need to do this because we share a long and porous border with England.
Every day, on a non-blockade day, nearly 150,000 people cross this border to work, visit family, shop, do business, and travel.
And every day, a large volume of goods and services flow through Wales to England and vice versa.
The English blockade will have an impact on people who live in Wales but work in England; in companies that operate in both Wales and England and in companies that trade along the border.
We are exiting our firewall just as England begins its month-long lockdown.
It is really important that as we open up, Wales does not become an escape for people looking to circumvent the new stricter restrictions imposed by the Prime Minister.
We want to keep Wales safe and we want to keep the UK safe.
When the firewall ends next Monday, there will be a new set of national measures, replacing previous local restrictions.
But more important than any rules, regulations or guidance we establish will be how each of us responds to the virus.
We can introduce new laws, but they will only be successful if we all do our best to reduce our exposure to the virus by keeping our contacts with other people to a minimum: at home; at work and when we go out.
We have to do the minimum, not the maximum, that the rules allow.
Our true strength lies in the decisions we make and the actions we take together.
When we came out of the lockdown in the spring, we took a cautious approach, gradually loosening restrictions to ensure we didn’t lose all the gains we had worked so hard for.
Once again, we’ll take that approach: For the first two weeks after the firewall ends, national measures will be designed to maximize the impact of the work we’ve all been doing to control the spread of the virus.
We will review the situation within fifteen days to see if we can make further changes.
I will now turn to what this means.
During the firewall, it was only possible to see the people you live with in your own home. Now we can do more.
We all want our homes to be welcoming places, but we also want them to be safe places.
One of the most common misconceptions about this virus is that we get it from people we don’t know. But we are more likely to spread it and pass it on to the people with whom we are in closest contact every day.
These are our family, our loved ones, and the people we live with.
Starting next Monday, two households will be able to unite to form a bubble.
To help keep everyone as safe as possible at home, only people from your household or extended home can meet at home.
The rules for meeting people are perhaps the most difficult we have to consider. So we ask people to think about what they should do instead of what they can do.
We know that changing the rules to allow two households to come together and meet at home will not reflect the family dynamics of many people in Wales and will not allow friends and young people to come together.
Beyond November 9, there will be new arrangements to meet indoors in other settings, such as pubs, bars, cafes, and restaurants.
But with all of these venues being closed in England, we need to think more about how the hospitality industry in Wales can operate in these new circumstances. That consideration will continue this afternoon.
In relation to the organized activity, up to 15 people can participate in an indoor activity and up to 30 in the outdoor activity, provided that all social distancing, hand hygiene and other covid safety measures are followed.
- Schools will reopen normally from next Monday.
- Working from home will be even more important.
- All commercial premises, closed from October 23, may reopen on November 9.
- Local authority services will resume, reflecting local circumstances.
- And places of worship will be able to reopen.
- There will be no travel restrictions within Wales, but during the close of a month in England, travel outside of Wales will not be allowed without a reasonable excuse.
We continue to see large numbers of people sick with coronavirus in Wales and, sadly, too many families are losing loved ones to this terrible virus.
We have a week left on this firewall.
One week to make a real difference in the course of this virus; to prevent our NHS from being overwhelmed and to save lives.
I want to thank you for all that you have done so far.
Together we keep Wales safe.
Thank you all.
I will answer questions from journalists. All responses will be broadcast live on our social media channels.
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