First Minister Mark Drakeford is expected to announce some further easing of lockdown measures in Wales on Friday.
It is expected to be announced that non-essential retail outlets will be able to reopen next week in Wales, provided strict social distancing and other Coronavirus guidelines are followed.
The Welsh Government has been advising retailers for the last few weeks to take steps to prepare for the reopening of shops, in case it is deemed safe for reopenings to take place following the government’s review of the Coronavirus restrictions.
It is though thought that travel restrictions may stay in place in Wales, despite the reopening of more retail outlets. Currently, people in Wales are being advised to ‘stay local’ and generally not travel more than 5 miles away from their homes unless for essential purposes. On Tuesday, we asked the Minister for Economy Ken Skates whether more people would be allowed to use public transport if more lockdown measures were eased. Mr Skates said the government would be continuing to advise people to think about whether their journeys on public transport are necessary, saying;
“I think we need people to be very sensible, to use their common sense and above all to think about others – is your journey absolutely necessary, are you taking a seat that could be taken be a key worker? Recognising that with social distancing, capacity on buses and trains will continue to be at around 10-15% of what it was before we went into Coronavirus, so we will be repeating the message to people to please consider first and foremost whether you need to travel, and then if you do, try to travel during a period of the day that is not busy, plan your route, plan your alternatives and to think about others.”
Non-essential retail outlets started to reopen in England this Monday, following months of their doors being closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
According to the latest data from Public Health Wales, 1,471 people are confirmed to have died with COVID-19 in Wales.
Photo Credit: Welsh Government
