WALES should expect rolling lockdowns throughout the winter, the country's chief medical officer has warned.

Four of Gwent's five council areas are currently in local lockdown.

And Dr Frank Atherton said Wales could be "going in and out of those restrictions over the next few months."

Yesterday, Public Health Wales reported 432 people have tested positive for coronavirus, with no further deaths.

Forty of those cases were found in Gwent.

Caerphilly accounted for 18 new cases, and there were nine in Blaenau Gwent, six in Torfaen, four in Newport, and three in Monmouthshire.

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Speaking to BBC Radio Wales' Breakfast programme, Dr Atherton said he thinks areas will be "coming in and out" of local lockdown restrictions over the coming winter months.

"I think people need to get ready for that scenario," he said.

"We decide whether local restrictions are needed, and I suspect we may be going in and out of those restrictions over the next few months.

"If the number of cases per 100,000 over a seven day period, comes down to below the 50 per 100,000 level, we can start to think with the local authority, in partnership with them about lifting the restrictions.

"The worst thing is to lift them too early," he said.

When asked by the South Wales Argus for an update on Gwent's local lockdowns today, health minister Vaughan Gething said it is possible there is a "levelling off" in the growth number of Covid-19 infections in Blaenau Gwent.

Mr Gething said this was "good news and show the restrictions are working".

Asked if he has a message to the people of Gwent, the health minister thanked residents for their work.

"We'll look for a way we can safely ease those restrictions... but it all comes with the challenge of understanding the risks we have," he added.