IT IS 'entirely possible' that other areas of Wales could see local lockdowns, the health minister has warned.

Caerphilly borough became the first area in the country put into local lockdown when it was announced yesterday.

But Vaughan Gething has warned that other places could follow if they make the same mistakes.

Mr Gething said: "Caerphilly is an outlier compared to the rest of Wales, we have seen an extended spread of cases on a community level.

"We know that there are other clusters in the country, and we are keeping an eye on them.

"We believe we know how these transmissions are happening in these areas and that is something we are monitoring.

"Caerphilly showed a lot of community transmissions and that is the problem here.

READ MORE:

Sign up to the South Wales Argus daily coronavirus update email newsletter by registering here.

"It is a marker for everyone else that we should all ensure we are following the requirements to social distance and follow the rules.

"If not it is entirely possible we could see this in other areas."

The reason for local lockdown, Mr Gething explained, was to stop the spread of coronavirus from younger people, who make up the majority of cases in Caerphilly at the moment, to older more vulnerable people.

He added: "In other parts of the world we have seen that a breakout in younger people can soon spread to more vulnerable groups in three to four weeks.

"A lot of 20 year-olds live with their parents. People who are 40-50 are more vulnerable than people in their 20s, and both groups will come into contact with people who are older and even more vulnerable.

"That is what we want to avoid."