Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, rules in Wales have been reviewed every three weeks.
Almost all restrictions in Wales were lifted from 6am on August 7, the next review is tfore due on Friday, August 27.
That review will take place, but as Wales is currently in alert level zero, and in his last press conference, First Minister Mark Drakeford said he does not expect any changes to be made to remaining rules in Wales until September.
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“Having reached this important milestone we now need to carefully monitor the impact of lifting so many restrictions,” Mr Drakeford said in his last press conference in August.
“We tfore do not expect to make any further changes at the next review.
“The changes we’ve announced today set the pattern for at least the next six weeks.”
Sources within Welsh Government say as it stands, and t is no expectation anything will change in Wales in the next review. We also understand the review will continue next week as is legally required, but t may not be the press conference from the First Minister we have become used to seeing.
What could change next?
It doesn’t mean other changes aren’t being looked at for the future.
When it comes to masks, t are still differences in the rules between England and Wales. In England, the legal requirement to wear masks has been removed, in Wales, it has only been removed in hospitality venues.
However, Welsh Government has already suggested it is looking at further easing that requirement although still not to the same degree as in England.
Health minister Eluned Morgan has said that the next area w restrictions could be eased were in attractions like museums or large tourist attractions. That conversation appears to be continuing, however Welsh Government has been clear throughout the pandemic that it will look at the data and be guided by the impact on hospitals before any changes.
Cases are rising in Wales however, a lag in data means the impact of Wales’ easing of restrictions is yet not clear and given the government’s previous caution in easing any restrictions, it’s unlikely any changes will come in while the cases continue to rise.
Before the next review, we are expecting more details about the future situation in Welsh schools and educational establishments.
From September, schools and education settings will be allowed to set their own measures to reflect the level of risk identified locally. Welsh Government has said it will publish guidance for them to follow “at the start of the 2021 to 2022 academic year”.
As it stands we expect schools to say no masks in classrooms but to be worn in communal areas, no bubbles and staggered start times but schools will be allowed to make their own decisions.
On Friday, Wales recorded more than 1,700 new positive cases of coronavirus in the latest update from Public Health Wales.
Data published on Friday, August 20, identified 1,728 new cases bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 259,883.
T were also four new Covid-19 deaths reported in Wales meaning the total number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive now stands at 5,651.
Do you think Wales is at the right alert level? Let us know in the comments below
Source: Wales Online
