On December 27th, the Welsh Government will introduce a series of new Covid restrictions which include shutting nightclubs, mandating that shops abide by social distancing protocols for both staff and customers, as well as bringing back work from home requirements. First Minister Mark Drakeford has declared that the spread of the Omicron variant necessitates this course of action, calling it “the most serious development in the pandemic to date”. MailOnline has more.
Until December 27th, the Welsh Government is encouraging people to follow five steps: getting vaccinated, making sure to have a negative lateral flow test result before going shopping or meeting people, meeting in well-ventilated areas (preferably outdoors), spacing out socialising to allow test days in between, and adhering to social distancing, wearing a face covering and washing hands.
It is also urging people to reduce contact with others over the coming days, especially if Christmas plans include seeing older or more vulnerable people.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “Delta will continue to be the main cause of Covid infections in Wales up to Christmas. But we are seeing cases of Omicron increasing rapidly every day in Wales, and across the U.K.
“We need a plan to keep us safe this Christmas and we need stronger measures to protect us afterwards, as we prepare for a large wave of Omicron infections.
“Omicron poses a new threat to our health and safety. It is the most serious development in the pandemic to date.
“It is one we must take seriously. We will continue to put in place proportionate measures to protect people’s lives and livelihoods.
“This is a virus which thrives on human contact. Every contact we have is an opportunity for us to spread or catch the virus.”
The changes for businesses comes with the announcement that up to £60 million will be available to support those affected by the new measures.
He added: “This year a smaller Christmas is a safer Christmas. The fewer people we see, the less chance we have of catching or passing on the virus.
“Please enjoy Christmas with your nearest and dearest, and think about meeting up with wider circles of friends when the threat posed by the Omicron variant has passed over.
“I also want to thank the many thousands of people who will be working this Christmas to keep us safe, especially all those who have cancelled their plans to work in the vaccination centres across Wales to increase our protection against this awful virus.”
The restrictions come after Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted today that the Government does not want to “lock stuff down” in England.
Instead, he urged Britons to “prioritise” social events, get a booster and do a lateral flow test before meeting people.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
He’s also making up lies about Tucker Carlson. These far-left media types are such extreme post-modernists that they make up any rubbish they like and consider it ‘their truth!!’
They are getting desperate. This tosser says we’re worried about Indians taking over, some other tosser says Sunak is not a proper Indian.
Rishi Sunak is more traditionally and respectably British than the Wayne and Waynetta Slob that live just down my street!
I suspect some Muslims may be against Rishi Sunak (and maybe more by the next election).
Like lockdown fanatics with Sweden, the race hustlers are terrified of counterexamples so they misrepresent them.
In truth there are a few people who are unhappy about Indians etc taking over – I know, I’ve seen the posts – but I suspect most of them would not be posting that stuff if Sunak was an actual conservative and not a WF stooge.
If Sunak was an English guy from Yorkshire, some people would complain that the crazy Northerners are taking over and if he was from Wales, they’d write the same about Welsh sheep-shaggers. While neither of both would be very useful for Noah’s canned postcolonial diatribe, they’re all qualitatively identical (putting someone down because he belongs to the wrong group of people). But then, the guy doesn’t really want to say something, he’s just kicking an ant hill in the hope to start some sort of heated race discussion where there was none so far.
With all these PM changes in recent years, not once did the Tories think of appointing a Smith – shocking, in my view!
What the American commentators don’t understand, is that while the USA has been layered in segregationist law all its life, the UK does not and never has had a single law that applies differently to one race vs another. They think, like many people here now do, that because we share a similar language, we share a similar history, and outlook, and that just isn’t the case. The UK has always found a way of incorporating people from other nations, although we are being sorely tested by the volume of what arrives at our door today.
My guess would be that they simply don’t care. To the wokist, the world began in 1492 and anything outside of the US of A is just different geographical backdrop for their drama.
I heard a story relating to WW2 the other day. As the troops were amassing in Britain for the D-Day landings the Americans were all for segregating their black troops, but the locals would not do it and welcomed Black and White troops into the same pubs and other public places all together.
I have no confidence that the Embassy in Washington will be on this case.
Which case, seriously? Random US duckhead holds the same speech again? With The Speech really being nothing but a random sequence of well-known terms combined with ad hoc chosen filler words? This guy doesn’t mean to say anything. He’s just trolling for page hits by using words known to annoy people. He’d probably be hard-pressed if he was asked to explain what he actually intended to express in plain English.
Meanwhile, Talk TV’s Mike Graham was more blunt, writing: You do wonder if Americans are the thickest people on the planet.”
With the greatest respect to Mr. Graham, wondering doesn’t come into it.
Cause and effect. Does being on the Left cause mental illness, or is it the result of mental illness?
Never heard of the feller. Does he matter? I assume not…
Was there the same outcry when the US voted in a man of colour as their president a few years ago? Or recently for their vice president, who is not only non-white but also a woman.
Mike Graham, yes Americans are the thickest people on the planet. I am one and thank you for making such a broad sweeping statement which shows you must be one of the smartest men in the world. We all know how clever…..no, I won’t go there. Isn’t necessary.