Health Minister praises social distancing measures in place in North Wales after visiting region on holiday

Wales’ Health Minister has praised the social distancing measures put in place in North Wales after visiting the region on holiday.

It follows concerns being raised over the number of tourists flocking to the area since lockdown measures were relaxed.

Vaughan Gething said it was up to individuals to take responsibility for their actions if they wanted to avoid the rules to stop the spread of Covid-19 from being tightened again.

It comes after the Labour MS said he had recently taken a break on the Llŷn Peninsula.

Speaking at the weekly Welsh Government press conference, Mr Gething said: “It’s actually about the responsibility of individuals to start off with.

“I’ve recently had some time away in North Wales on the Llŷn Peninsula and I was very impressed with the way the local town and the council there was managing to arrange and organise to give people the clearest possible indicators about social distancing.

“There’s an organisational response from those businesses that want to stay open.

“Ultimately it comes down to how we choose to behave in all of this as well, because where I was, it was very busy.

“But at the same time, people were able largely to keep themselves to the units and groups they were in.

“If we want to see the freedoms that we’ve been able to unlock maintained, that’s really important for us.”

Mr Gething also stressed the positive economic benefit which tourism brings to the country.

He said: “The other side to this is the fact that it’s allowed more economic activity to take place.

“In areas of Wales, that economic activity that is associated with visitors is hugely important.

“This isn’t just a public health crisis, it’s also an economic one as well.

“I want to see us unlock as quickly as possible as safely as possible.

“The safety message has to be in the minds of all of us as individuals and those of us with responsibilities for providing services and running businesses.”