Non-essential shops in Wales set to reopen on Monday, but five-mile guidance remains until July 6
All eyes will be on Wales first minister this lunchtime as he unveils a series of lockdown changes during a press conference.
The first minister will announce the outcome of the fourth lockdown review as he is required to do every 21 days under emergency regulations implemented in March.
All non-essential retail businesses in Wales will be able to open from Monday June 22 if they can take all reasonable measures to comply with the physical distancing duty in Welsh law.
Welsh Government has said the change is at the heart of a comprehensive package of measures to further unlock the coronavirus restrictions and move many aspects of daily life into the amber zone on the Welsh Government’s traffic light system.
The five-mile “stay local” guidance will remain for another two weeks but will be lifted on July 6 “if we are confident that the virus is still where we need it to be” Mr Drakeford has said.
The tourism industry will also be told today they should use the next three weeks to prepare to open ‘self-contained’ holiday accommodation.
Ahead of this afternoon’s announcement Mr Drakeford said: “What I’ll be saying today is that through all the efforts that we made together we are succeeding in bringing coronavirus under control.
That has created some further headroom so that we can continue the orderly process of lifting lockdown here in Wales.”
The first minister told BBC Radio Wales that the Welsh Government is “following the advice of the World Health Organization in doing it in a step by step way and over the next three weeks on every Monday we will take a further step forward.
So on Monday of next week we will reopen non-essential retail here in Wales provided it can be done in a safe way.
Second Monday, June 29, schools will reopen in Wales.
On the third Monday, July 6 the stay local restrictions in Wales will end, provided that at the time we are confident that the virus is still where we need it to be.
I’ve said this morning that the “stay local” restrictions we plan to lift those in two weeks time.
What we’re asking people in Wales to do is to do one last lap of the stay local arrangements.
It’s very important that we have these two weeks to continue to bear down on the virus and to allow those parts of our economy where people will travel, when they are able to do can prepare as well.
If on the July 6 we are able to confirm that the stay local message is over and people choose, as I’m sure they will, to travel to those parts of Wales which are holiday destinations, that those places have two weeks now to prepare for that.
I do ask people for the next two weeks, stick with the stay local instruction, it has really helped to bring the virus under control in Wales.”
Spotted something? Got a story? Send a Facebook Message | A direct message on Twitter | Email: News@Deeside.com
Latest News
