First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced a 17 day ‘fire break’ lockdown in Wales from 6pm Friday, 23 October, ending on 9 November.
Everyone will be told to stay at home, while pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops will shut.
Primary schools will reopen after the half term break, but only Years Seven and Eight in secondary schools will return at that time.
Gatherings indoors and outdoors with people not in a single household will be banned. Leisure businesses, community centres, libraries and recycling centres will shut. Places of worship will be closed for normal services, except for funerals and weddings.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said the “time-limited ‘fire-break'” will be a “a short, sharp, shock to turn back the clock, slow down the virus and buy us more time”.
The measures include:
- Non-essential retail, leisure and hospitality businesses to close
- People told to work from home wherever possible, with exceptions for critical workers
- Household mixing banned both indoors and outdoors, although those in social bubbles will still be able to meet
- Primary schools open after the half-term week and secondary schools will open only to Year 7 and Year 8 pupils
- Places of worship to be closed except for weddings and funerals
Mr Drakeford said without the new measures, the NHS will not be able to cope and “even more people will die”.
“There are no easy choices in front of us as the virus spreads rapidly in every part of Wales,” he said.
He also announced a £300m economic resilience fund to help businesses through the shutdown.
