COVID-19: What Wales can do from today

From today (Monday 3rd August), you can now meet with up to 30 people outdoors.

As well as meeting up to 30 people outdoors, from today cafés, restaurants, pubs/ bars are allowed to reopen indoors.

Indoor bowling alleys, bingo halls, and auction houses have also been given the green light from today whilst licensed wedding venues can provide wedding ceremonies but can’t yet hold indoor receptions.

In Fridays announcement we also heard that the scientific evidence, which shows the risk of transmission is lower among children under 11, and because of this the guidance will be updated to relax the position on children under 11 having to maintain a 2 metres distance from each other or from adults. However, it is very important older children and young adults continue to follow social distancing and the other measures to keep them safe.

First Minister Mark Drakeford made the announcement on Friday (31st July) which is welcoming news for many business owners who have been forced to close for several months.

The first minister also announced that over the next three weeks there will be more restrictions lifted as long as there is no sudden spike in cases.

Gyms and swimming pools have been told that they can open from Monday 10th August. Torfaen Leisure Trust has announced that Pontypool Active Living Centre will reopen on Monday 10th, and Cwmbran Stadium will reopen on Wednesday 12th August. (Click here for more on this.)

Indoor fitness studios, spas, indoor leisure centres and children’s indoor play areas have also been told that they can reopen from Monday 10th August.

The Welsh Government is also exploring whether changes can be made to the rules to enable people to meet indoors with other people who aren’t part of their household or extended household from August 15.

The First Minister added:

It is thanks to the hard efforts of everyone in Wales that we have been able to control the spread of coronavirus and relax the restrictions. We can only continue to do this if everyone carries on this hard work.

If we stop now, there is a real risk we will see new outbreaks of coronavirus and we may have to reverse some of these restrictions to control its spread again.

We are facing the likelihood of a resurgence of the virus over the autumn and winter –this will not be over by Christmas. We all have an ongoing responsibility to keep Wales safe. This means maintaining social distancing, washing our hands often and thinking carefully about where we go, what we’re doing and why.