WHAT is a circuit breaker lockdown, and what will it achieve?

The Welsh Government will make a decision on whether or not to impose a circuit-breaker lockdown this morning.

Ministers have been meeting over the issue this weekend.

First minister Mark Drakeford will update the Welsh people on the government's decision at his press conference today.

But what is a circuit breaker and how does it differ to the national lockdown imposed on Wales and the UK in spring?

Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the behavioural science advisory group for SAGE, said circuit breakers were an "emergency measure" to be used in a "crisis".

"And I think we are in a crisis," he added.

Coronavirus cases across Wales are continuing to increase, and the Welsh Government feels extra action may be needed.

A spokesman said: "There is a growing consensus we now need to introduce a different set of measures and actions to respond to the virus as it continues to spread across Wales more quickly during the autumn and winter months ahead."

That different set of measures is believed to be a circuit breaker lockdown.

The first minister announced plans on Friday to introduce a “short, sharp” lockdown for a period of two to three weeks, although would not be drawn on the details of such a decision.

“We are not returning to where we were in March of this year, because in March we had an open-ended lockdown, a lockdown which nobody knew when it would end,” he said.

“We are considering a fixed period of a circuit breaker, and that I think is something very different.

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“If we have a circuit breaker, it will be for a defined period of time. After that defined period of time, a different set of rules will be necessary.

“It will not be prolonged indefinitely in the way that the regime earlier in the year had to be prolonged because that wouldn’t be a circuit breaker – that isn’t what Sage is recommending; it’s not what our own technical advisory group is saying to us.”

Professor Reicher said he believed that "what Wales is doing is right", but warned that on its own, a circuit breaker would not be enough.

Speaking to BBC News he said: "The figures show that the infections and hospitalisations are spiking.

"The circuit breaker can bring them down to a manageable level.

"But if you just have the circuit breaker, when you lift it, without putting other measures in place, then what will happen is infections will rise again."

He added that a circuit breaker lockdown gave the Welsh Government a chance to "reset" and keep infections down.

Professor Reicher said the time should be used to implement three things; a better test and trace system, a system to support people and help them stick to the rules, and a system of regulations to help employers and the hospitality sector stick to guidance.

He added: "It means support for people, not berating them for not going along with restrictions.

"If you can do those things then we can live with it. But if you just impose the restrictions and lift them, then it is not a very sensible thing to do."

  • The first minister is expected to announce the full details of the Welsh Government's plans for the days and weeks ahead at a press conference at 12.15pm today. Follow live here .