Coronavirus update - NO MORE RESTRICTIONS

[Do me a Faerber]

I MIGHT have gone into the office on one day perhaps, and probably ould have gone out for a meal for my mother's birthday, but other than that nothing's changed

Less people hanging around pubs than a few weeks ago. My workmates have been meeting in Cardiff for drinks every Friday after work for weeks, they haven't been able to do that.

[Michael Morris]

Mark Drakeford's speech announcing the new coronavirus rules in full

Prynhawn da

When I spoke to you on Friday, I said I would report back with the outcome of the discussions we held over the weekend about the new set of national measures, which will be put in place when the firebreak comes to an end next Monday.

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 start a month-long lockdown on Thursday.

I want to be absolutely clear our firebreak will end as planned – and as promised – next Monday.

But now we have had to consider the impact the English lockdown 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-lockdown day – almost 150,000 people criss-cross this border to work, visit family, shop, do business and travel

And every day a huge volume of goods and services flow through Wales to England and vice versa.

The English lockdown will have an impact on people who live in Wales but work in England; on companies operating in both Wales and England and on businesses trading along the border.

We are coming out of our firebreak just as England starts its month-long lockdown.

It’s really important that as we open up, Wales doesn’t become an escape for people seeking to circumvent the new tighter restrictions imposed by the Prime Minister.

We want to keep Wales safe and we want to keep the UK safe.

When the firebreak ends next Monday, there will be a new set of national measures, which will replace the previous local restrictions.

But more important than any rules, regulations or guidance, which we put in place will be the way each one of us responds to the virus.

We can introduce new laws but these will only be successful if we all of us do everything we can to reduce our exposure to the virus by keeping the contacts we have with other people to a minimum – at home; in work and when we go out.

We need to do the minimum – not the maximum, which the rules allow.

Our real strength lies in the choices we make and the actions we take together.

When we came out of lockdown in the spring, we took a cautious approach, relaxing restrictions gradually to make sure we did not lose all the gains we had worked so hard for.

We will once again take that approach – for the first two weeks after the firebreak ends, the national measures will be designed to maximise the impact of the work we have all been doing to control the spread of the virus.

We will review the situation in a fortnight’s time to see whether we can make further changes.

I will turn now to what this means.

During the firebreak, it has only been 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 catch it from people we don’t know. But we are more likely to catch it from – and pass it on to – the people we are in closest contact with every day.

These are our family, our loved ones and the people we live with.

From next Monday, two households will be able to join together to form a bubble.

To help keep everyone as safe as possible at home, only people from your own household or your extended household can meet at home.

The rules around meeting people are perhaps the most difficult we have to consider. This is why we ask people to think about what they should do rather than what they can do.

We know that changing the rules to allow two households to join together and meet at home will not reflect the family dynamics of many people in Wales and it will not enable friends and young people to meet.

Beyond November 9, there will be new arrangements to meet indoors in other settings, such as pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants.

But because all these places will be closed in England, we are having to think further about how the hospitality sector in Wales can operate in these new circumstances. That consideration will continue this afternoon.

In relation to organised activity, up to 15 people can take part in an indoors activity and up to 30 in outdoors activity, providing all social distancing, hand hygiene and other covid safety measures are followed.

Schools will reopen as normal from next Monday.
Working from home will become even more important.
All business premises, which have been shut since October 23, will be able to 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 inside Wales but during the month-long lockdown in England, travel will not be permitted outside Wales without a reasonable excuse.


We are continuing to see large numbers of people falling ill with coronavirus in Wales and very sadly, too many families are losing loved ones to this awful virus.

We have a week left of this firebreak.

A week to make a real difference to the course of this virus; to prevent our NHS from being overwhelmed and to save lives.

I want to thank you for everything you have done so far.

[Do me a Faerber]

We can now have a two household bubble, meetings indoors of no more than 15, and outdoors of no more than 30.

Looks like the WAG made the right choice 2 weeks ago. It also makes Johnson's inactivity look even more alarming.

Shops open at their busiest times too, including mine. A 4 week lockdown would have meant me laying off my only employee.

[goats]

Mark Drakeford's speech announcing the new coronavirus rules in full

Prynhawn da

When I spoke to you on Friday, I said I would report back with the outcome of the discussions we held over the weekend about the new set of national measures, which will be put in place when the firebreak comes to an end next Monday.

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 start a month-long lockdown on Thursday.

I want to be absolutely clear our firebreak will end as planned – and as promised – next Monday.

But now we have had to consider the impact the English lockdown 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-lockdown day – almost 150,000 people criss-cross this border to work, visit family, shop, do business and travel

And every day a huge volume of goods and services flow through Wales to England and vice versa.

The English lockdown will have an impact on people who live in Wales but work in England; on companies operating in both Wales and England and on businesses trading along the border.

We are coming out of our firebreak just as England starts its month-long lockdown.

It’s really important that as we open up, Wales doesn’t become an escape for people seeking to circumvent the new tighter restrictions imposed by the Prime Minister.

We want to keep Wales safe and we want to keep the UK safe.

When the firebreak ends next Monday, there will be a new set of national measures, which will replace the previous local restrictions.

But more important than any rules, regulations or guidance, which we put in place will be the way each one of us responds to the virus.

We can introduce new laws but these will only be successful if we all of us do everything we can to reduce our exposure to the virus by keeping the contacts we have with other people to a minimum – at home; in work and when we go out.

We need to do the minimum – not the maximum, which the rules allow.

Our real strength lies in the choices we make and the actions we take together.

When we came out of lockdown in the spring, we took a cautious approach, relaxing restrictions gradually to make sure we did not lose all the gains we had worked so hard for.

We will once again take that approach – for the first two weeks after the firebreak ends, the national measures will be designed to maximise the impact of the work we have all been doing to control the spread of the virus.

We will review the situation in a fortnight’s time to see whether we can make further changes.

I will turn now to what this means.

During the firebreak, it has only been 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 catch it from people we don’t know. But we are more likely to catch it from – and pass it on to – the people we are in closest contact with every day.

These are our family, our loved ones and the people we live with.

From next Monday, two households will be able to join together to form a bubble.

To help keep everyone as safe as possible at home, only people from your own household or your extended household can meet at home.

The rules around meeting people are perhaps the most difficult we have to consider. This is why we ask people to think about what they should do rather than what they can do.

We know that changing the rules to allow two households to join together and meet at home will not reflect the family dynamics of many people in Wales and it will not enable friends and young people to meet.

Beyond November 9, there will be new arrangements to meet indoors in other settings, such as pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants.

But because all these places will be closed in England, we are having to think further about how the hospitality sector in Wales can operate in these new circumstances. That consideration will continue this afternoon.

In relation to organised activity, up to 15 people can take part in an indoors activity and up to 30 in outdoors activity, providing all social distancing, hand hygiene and other covid safety measures are followed.

Schools will reopen as normal from next Monday.
Working from home will become even more important.
All business premises, which have been shut since October 23, will be able to 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 inside Wales but during the month-long lockdown in England, travel will not be permitted outside Wales without a reasonable excuse.


We are continuing to see large numbers of people falling ill with coronavirus in Wales and very sadly, too many families are losing loved ones to this awful virus.

We have a week left of this firebreak.

A week to make a real difference to the course of this virus; to prevent our NHS from being overwhelmed and to save lives.

I want to thank you for everything you have done so far.

Seems fair enough. I imagine we will still be locked in to our county lines?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Mark Drakeford's speech announcing the new coronavirus rules in full

Prynhawn da

When I spoke to you on Friday, I said I would report back with the outcome of the discussions we held over the weekend about the new set of national measures, which will be put in place when the firebreak comes to an end next Monday.

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 start a month-long lockdown on Thursday.

I want to be absolutely clear our firebreak will end as planned – and as promised – next Monday.

But now we have had to consider the impact the English lockdown 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-lockdown day – almost 150,000 people criss-cross this border to work, visit family, shop, do business and travel

And every day a huge volume of goods and services flow through Wales to England and vice versa.

The English lockdown will have an impact on people who live in Wales but work in England; on companies operating in both Wales and England and on businesses trading along the border.

We are coming out of our firebreak just as England starts its month-long lockdown.

It’s really important that as we open up, Wales doesn’t become an escape for people seeking to circumvent the new tighter restrictions imposed by the Prime Minister.

We want to keep Wales safe and we want to keep the UK safe.

When the firebreak ends next Monday, there will be a new set of national measures, which will replace the previous local restrictions.

But more important than any rules, regulations or guidance, which we put in place will be the way each one of us responds to the virus.

We can introduce new laws but these will only be successful if we all of us do everything we can to reduce our exposure to the virus by keeping the contacts we have with other people to a minimum – at home; in work and when we go out.

We need to do the minimum – not the maximum, which the rules allow.

Our real strength lies in the choices we make and the actions we take together.

When we came out of lockdown in the spring, we took a cautious approach, relaxing restrictions gradually to make sure we did not lose all the gains we had worked so hard for.

We will once again take that approach – for the first two weeks after the firebreak ends, the national measures will be designed to maximise the impact of the work we have all been doing to control the spread of the virus.

We will review the situation in a fortnight’s time to see whether we can make further changes.

I will turn now to what this means.

During the firebreak, it has only been 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 catch it from people we don’t know. But we are more likely to catch it from – and pass it on to – the people we are in closest contact with every day.

These are our family, our loved ones and the people we live with.

From next Monday, two households will be able to join together to form a bubble.

To help keep everyone as safe as possible at home, only people from your own household or your extended household can meet at home.

The rules around meeting people are perhaps the most difficult we have to consider. This is why we ask people to think about what they should do rather than what they can do.

We know that changing the rules to allow two households to join together and meet at home will not reflect the family dynamics of many people in Wales and it will not enable friends and young people to meet.

Beyond November 9, there will be new arrangements to meet indoors in other settings, such as pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants.

But because all these places will be closed in England, we are having to think further about how the hospitality sector in Wales can operate in these new circumstances. That consideration will continue this afternoon.

In relation to organised activity, up to 15 people can take part in an indoors activity and up to 30 in outdoors activity, providing all social distancing, hand hygiene and other covid safety measures are followed.

Schools will reopen as normal from next Monday.
Working from home will become even more important.
All business premises, which have been shut since October 23, will be able to 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 inside Wales but during the month-long lockdown in England, travel will not be permitted outside Wales without a reasonable excuse.


We are continuing to see large numbers of people falling ill with coronavirus in Wales and very sadly, too many families are losing loved ones to this awful virus.

We have a week left of this firebreak.

A week to make a real difference to the course of this virus; to prevent our NHS from being overwhelmed and to save lives.

I want to thank you for everything you have done so far.

I quite like the onus being on people to consider what they should do and to think about their actions, rather than what they can do and try and do as much as they want.

[goats]

I quite like the onus being on people to consider what they should do and to think about their actions, rather than what they can do and try and do as much as they want.

So he’s putting faith in people? Bless him....in saying that most people I know are sticking to the rules here whereas I hear of people I know in London having 50/60 people around to a party in a flat ffs....I guess this is why the Heath still remains quiet

[City123]

Seems fair enough. I imagine we will still be locked in to our county lines?

No travel restrictions inside Wales suggests not

[MacAdder]

Better start planning on refurbishing our castles a bit quick!

[surge]

So he’s putting faith in people? Bless him....in saying that most people I know are sticking to the rules here whereas I hear of people I know in London having 50/60 people around to a party in a flat ffs....I guess this is why the Heath still remains quiet

Giving people the information and trusting then to think about other people is as close to the Swedish model as we have had in the UK and as close as it's going to get this side of March 2021.

If it does not work then likely we end back in a circuit breaker and for longer this time. We know the risks in terms of lockdown and we know the risks in terms of NHS clogging up.

[blue matt]

So he’s putting faith in people? Bless him....in saying that most people I know are sticking to the rules here whereas I hear of people I know in London having 50/60 people around to a party in a flat ffs....I guess this is why the Heath still remains quiet

most are being sensible

I saw on the news the rave in Yate

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/b...ristol-4660277

time and a place certainly springs to mind

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Giving people the information and trusting then to think about other people is as close to the Swedish model as we have had in the UK and as close as it's going to get this side of March 2021.

If it does not work then likely we end back in a circuit breaker and for longer this time. We know the risks in terms of lockdown and we know the risks in terms of NHS clogging up.

Absolutely. I think you can have whatever lockdown restrictions you want. We've got to the stage where many don't care any more. Time to put the onus on them. Think and act sensibly, or act like a knob and there'll be a major clampdown.

[Dorcus]

Mr. Drakeford certainly coming out of all this mess far better than the knob head in Number 10 who is still trying everything to keep his backbenchers content today. I feel reassured were in safe and steady hands.

[Jordi Culé]

I am not one to knock Boris and the government over this pandemic, they are learning as they go, the whole thing is fluid and can change by the day

BUT of course tieing it into 1/2 term was the sensible option, a strange decision not to

"...they are learning as they go..."

You 100 per cent about that?

[Dorcus]

"...they are learning as they go..."

You 100 per cent about that?

Yes, in the sense of learning in a Special Needs class.

[The Lone Gunman]

Looks like the WAG made the right choice 2 weeks ago.

What gives you that impression?

[Do me a Faerber]

What gives you that impression?

If I ran my business from England, I would have to close down for the next 4 weeks at least, right at my busiest and most profitable time.

I run my business from Wales and, yes, it was a pain to close down for 2 weeks but I should be back up and running on Monday.

[Do me a Faerber]

https://goodlawproject.org/news/spec...8RalQPqKzw724Q

[The Lone Gunman]

If I ran my business from England, I would have to close down for the next 4 weeks at least, right at my busiest and most profitable time.

I run my business from Wales and, yes, it was a pain to close down for 2 weeks but I should be back up and running on Monday.

Right. So, from your personal perspective, the WAG did the right thing. However, as far as I’m aware at least, there isn’t any genuine evidence yet as regards the effects of the 17-day firebreak lockdown and there won’t be for some time. It could have brought about a significant reduction in infections, it could have had a minor effect or it could have had no effect whatsoever. Nobody knows yet.

[Do me a Faerber]

Right. So, from your personal perspective, the WAG did the right thing. However, as far as I’m aware at least, there isn’t any genuine evidence yet as regards the effects of the 17-day firebreak lockdown and there won’t be for some time. It could have brought about a significant reduction in infections, it could have had a minor effect or it could have had no effect whatsoever. Nobody knows yet.

Do you think, based on actions taken by the WAG so far, that they would be taking their foot off the brake if they had seen evidence that the circuit breaker wasn't working? You would have to agree that the data the WAG see is more detailed than the ones we are drip-fed in the press?

[The Lone Gunman]

Do you think, based on actions taken by the WAG so far, that they would be taking their foot off the brake if they had seen evidence that the circuit breaker wasn't working? You would have to agree that the data the WAG see is more detailed than the ones we are drip-fed in the press?

From the moment this latest lockdown was first announced, Drakeford and Co have consistently stated it will end next week. I don’t think they would want to reverse that decision under any circumstances. Doing so would be a major political own goal and would drain any remaining confidence the public has in the WAG.

There is no way Drakeford had any concrete data as regards the success or otherwise of this lockdown before it started and he doesn’t have any now either. It’s too early for that.

[cyril evans awaydays]

Right. So, from your personal perspective, the WAG did the right thing. However, as far as I’m aware at least, there isn’t any genuine evidence yet as regards the effects of the 17-day firebreak lockdown and there won’t be for some time. It could have brought about a significant reduction in infections, it could have had a minor effect or it could have had no effect whatsoever. Nobody knows yet.

From what I understand on 22nd September SAGE presented some alarming modelling which in the following days became available to all parts of the UK. Wales, ultimately, based on that evidence went for a short very restrictive lockdown. England, via the UK government decided not to at that time and ridiculed the need before succumbing a few weeks later and going for a longer later set of measures because "no one could have forseen how malignant the virus was".

Like you say the proof will be in the pudding.

[xsnaggle]

My only concern with this is the number of people allowed in a home.
15 is a lot of people in the average house, and given that, as Drakeford said, the biggest source of new infections is family and community.
It is not as if those 15 or less family members are never going to come into close contact with others whether at work or neighbours or shopping locally. I hope they got that right.

[Hilts]

My only concern with this is the number of people allowed in a home.
15 is a lot of people in the average house, and given that, as Drakeford said, the biggest source of new infections is family and community.
It is not as if those 15 or less family members are never going to come into close contact with others whether at work or neighbours or shopping locally. I hope they got that right.

Its 15 indoors for organised activities isnt it?

Not 15 in a house.

Households is 2 households in a bubble.

[xsnaggle]

Its 15 indoors for organised activities isnt it?

Not 15 in a house.

Households is 2 households in a bubble.

Ah OK. Misread it. But what if they're sex people?
But seriously, it is family meetings that are most likely to spread the thing. Whilst older people who live alone need a visitor and support I think any family should consider what was said about the minimum needed to be done rather than the most that can be done

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Ah OK. Misread it. But what if they're sex people?
But seriously, it is family meetings that are most likely to spread the thing. Whilst older people who live alone need a visitor and support I think any family should consider what was said about the minimum needed to be done rather than the most that can be done

Absolutely spot on.

Plenty of people moaning that they can only do this or only do that. They should be asking if they need to do those things, if they are imperative.