Coronavirus: Wales publishes exit plan out of lockdown using ‘traffic light system’

Wales has unveiled its ‘roadmap’ for the country’s exit from lockdown, using a traffic light system to define which areas of public life will gradually be eased back into normality as the UK starts to attempt releasing itself from the grip of the coronavirus crisis.

The plan is part of a "cautious, coherent" approach to easing the lockdown and marks a firmer divide from the approach for England outlined by the prime minister last Sunday.

Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford, said people in Wales will have to stick to current lockdown advice to “Stay Home, Protect our NHS and Save Lives” for at least the next two weeks before the government starts to move into the next phase of the roadmap.

The phased approach has three “zones”. The red zone will not be “very different to lockdown but it will be a cautious first step”, the first minister told Sky News on Friday, as he explained the exit plan will not be given a time frame for when the country could expect to see any changes.

Under lockdown, schools will remain closed except for vulnerable children and children of key workers, and members of the public are to work from home if possible and not to leave their homes except for essentials.