National lockdown could be weeks away, Welsh health minister warns
Wales’s health minister Vaughan Gething has warned that a national lockdown could be “weeks away” unless people followed the new rules to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Gething urged people to keep social distancing to save lives as cases continue to rise across the UK.
On Sunday 3,330 more people tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, the highest Sunday rise since May.
Public Health Wales reported 162 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Sunday but no deaths. There were 47 new cases in Caerphilly, south Wales, which went into lockdown last week, and 42 in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The rest of the cases came from Newport, Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil.
Gething told BBC Radio Wales: “We have a number of weeks to be able to get to a position where we can recover some of the ground with a return to effective social distancing, with a return to respecting the rules we have in place to save people’s lives or we will be forced into greater local lockdowns and the potential for another national lockdown.”
At a coronavirus briefing on Monday, the Labour minister said that the country is in a similar situation as it was in early February.
"Cases are rising overall in Wales and we are seeing a deteriorating position beyond our borders,” he said, according to Wales Online.
He said Wales’ Tactical Advisory Cell had warned that “action should be taken now to prevent significant harm or another full lockdown”.
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“The latest advice from the Technical Advisory Cell, to be published this week, says the pattern of increasing cases is similar to the situation we faced in February.”
"None of us want to see large numbers of seriously ill people in our hospitals again and none of us want to see large numbers of people dying from this virus.”
Taking questions after his speech, Gething said a full national lockdown was "not something I want to return to if we can avoid it but if it's necessary that's what we will do”.
The latest number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Wales has been updated.
Data dashboard:
💻https://t.co/zpWRYSUbfh
📱https://t.co/HSclxpZjBh
Find out how we are responding to the spread of the virus in our daily statement here: https://t.co/u6SKHz0zsG pic.twitter.com/9N7jBdBMAa— Public Health Wales (@PublicHealthW) September 13, 2020
On Monday, new rules came into force meaning that people must wear face coverings in shops and other indoor spaces.
First minister Mark Drakeford said that the rules does not apply to children under the age of 11 but warned that anyone flouting the rules could be fined £1920.
Read more: Lockdown in Caerphilly area will remain until at least October
Wales also must abide by the “rule of six”, which means groups of more than six people are banned from meeting except in specific circumstances as of Monday.
Video: The ‘rule of six’ explained
Gething also warned at the briefing that the government could increase the range of measures it has to take to respond to local outbreaks. These include imposing curfews and restricting alcohol sales.
The minister said that they are seeing a change in the pattern of infection – with more people in the 40s and 50s testing positive.
This could lead to a rise in people being admitted to hospital.
Last week around half of the UK’s positive new cases were diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s but in the past week a significant numbers of cases have also been identified in people in their 40s and 50s.
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