Welsh hospitality business will soon be able to reopen – outdoors from April 26th and indoors from May 17th – as Mark Drakeford has accelerated Wales’s reopening schedule. The Telegraph has the story.
Pubs, restaurants, cafes and other hospitality businesses will be allowed to offer outdoor service again from Monday, April 26th, as restrictions are eased further in Wales.
In addition, from April 24th, six people from six households will be able to meet outdoors, but meeting inside will not be allowed until May 3rd, when two households will be allowed to see each other indoors.
It comes as the reopening of gyms and leisure centres, and outdoor organised activities, has also been brought forward to May 3rd amid a drop in new Covid infections.
Indoor activities for children, indoor organised activities for up to 15 adults, such as exercise classes, and the reopening of community centres were also meant to happen on May 17th, but have been brought forward by two weeks.
Mark Drakeford, the Welsh First Minister, also said indoor hospitality and all tourism accommodation can reopen from May 17th, subject to confirmation by the party that leads the Welsh Government following the Senedd election.
Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio 5 Live that the improving Covid and vaccine situations in Wales meant an acceleration of the country’s exit from lockdown was possible.
The rates of coronavirus in Wales are now the lowest in the United Kingdom, our vaccination rates are the highest in the United Kingdom, and that has created some extra headroom for us to be able to continue what we’ve been doing now for quite a few cycles.
We continue to proceed in Wales in a cautious, step-by-step way. But the fact that we have these low rates is the product of that way of doing things.
It’s because we’ve done it in the way we have that we’re now able to accelerate some of the decisions because the prevalence of coronavirus has fallen to the lowest extent we’ve seen since the summer.
Boris Johnson, on the other hand, remains unconvinced that England’s unlock should be speeded up. Covid cases and hospitalisations continue to fall in England and the successful vaccine rollout means that 95% of the over-50s – that is, those who are most vulnerable to Covid – have been vaccinated. Despite this, ministers have suggested that the current level of lockdown could stay in place beyond May 17th.
The Telegraph’s report is worth reading in full.
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