Wales’ CMO: “We mustn’t throw it all away now” after uptick in Covid breaches over weekend

“The daffodils are out, the vaccine is with us, but it’s not game over,” Wales’ chief medical officer said, as he warned “coronavirus has not gone away.”

Police in Flintshire reported a number of people for Covid restriction breaches over the weekend as people travelled to the area enjoy the good weather.

Speaking to the BBC this morning, Dr Frank Atherton said: “People have been cooped up over the winter, when the sun comes out in the spring, we want to be out and about.”

“But the point is, Coronavirus has not gone away, community rates have come right down but we have been here before.”

“We had very low rates last summer and we saw how quickly it can take off again, even with the levels of vaccination that we currently have.”

Dr Atherton said: “We need to continue to behave cautiously.”

“The first minister has been very clear that he wants to cautiously reopen public life here in Wales.”

“We’re going to keep a very close watch on the epidemiology, on the numbers of cases and numbers of hospitalisations that we have here in Wales.”

“As those continue to improve we’ll be able to open up more things and have a more connected future.”

“We just have to remember that we mustn’t throw it all away right at the end of the game.”

Coronavirus has not gone away, it’s still there, it can resurge if we’re not careful.”

“Continuing to behave with with caution to maintain social distancing is the right thing to do, as we all get vaccinated, and let’s see where the summer takes us and hopefully some some some good times ahead for people.”

Police saw an increase in people breaching the Welsh Government Alert Level 4 restrictions over the weekend.

On Saturday officers in Flintshire said they were left with “no choice but to report in excess of ten different households for these breaches.”

Adding, “Wepre Park and Talacre Beach in particular have been bad.”

Posting an update on the forces North Flintshire Facebook page a spokesperson said: “We don’t want to issue any fines for this and the country is moving in the right direction towards the easing of restrictions but we aren’t there yet.”

Chief Inspector Jon Aspinall said: “We understand the attraction to the area, especially considering the weather.

“However, we must ensure that we all adhere to the current travel restrictions.

“Wales remains under Alert Level lock-down for good reason, to protect the vulnerable and to protect our NHS.

“Officers have been specifically designated to patrol across North Wales and will be out again today to enforce the regulations where appropriate.

“I would urge anyone considering travel in contravention to these restrictions not to do so.”