LOCKDOWN restrictions in Wales are being successful in countering the threat posed by coronavirus - but the "sting in the tail" carried by the disease must be avoided.

That was the warning today from Wales's Chief Medical Officer Dr Frank Atherton to AMs and to the wider public.

At the daily Welsh Government coronavirus briefing, Dr Atherton said that while restrictions are "a real challenge", the good news is that they are proving successful.

"There have been reductions in cases, reductions in hospital admissions, reductions in admissions to intensive care units.

"We continue to have some deaths, unfortunately, but the trend is flattening.

"That shows the people of Wales are taking those social distancing and hand hygiene and lockdown measures very seriously."

But Dr Atherton said there is a "sting in the tail" regarding that success, because "if we lift measures too early or quickly, we could see a resurgence of virus circulating."

"We have to remember this virus has not finished with us yet," he warned.

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Dr Atherton also alluded to a "sting in the tale" of coronavirus at a virtual meeting of the Assembly's health committee, saying "there is a long way to go" and that moving forward will be "extraordinarily difficult".

The disease has "many surprises" that emerge on a daily basis he said, and called for a "more systematic approach" to understanding how the virus was affecting the UK and the rest of the world, as each country has differing perspectives and responses.

Dr Atherton said the reproduction rate of the virus - the number of new cases linked to a single individual - is now less than one in Wales, meaning that lockdown measures are working.

But committee members were told that there is little leeway for an increase in infections that is likely if such measures are significantly lifted.

"We need to continue learning from others. We continue to adapt our strategy and our approaches," he said.

The "sting in the tail" is that completely suppressing transmission risks a second or possibly third wave of the virus.

"That's something we somehow have to avoid," he said.

At the briefing, Dr Atherton said measures taken to date to try to prevent the virus spreading have not so much flattened the curve of case numbers, as "squashed it".

"The downside is that by squashing the curve we risk a resurgence by relaxing restrictions too early," he added, warning too that such a resurgence may be sizeable and coincide with the onset of autumn and winter.