PEOPLE in Wales will discover today how any future public health restrictions and lockdowns may look, when the Welsh Government publishes its latest action plan.

Wales will move to a four-level alert system, similar to the one used when the nationwide lockdown was eased gradually in the spring.

First minister Mark Drakeford said on Friday the whole of Wales was currently at level three – representing "very high" risk – and could move to the highest level "immediately after Christmas" if the rate of new coronavirus cases does not slow down.

But Mr Drakeford said he does not expect to need to announce any further restrictions covering the run-up to Christmas.

The new plan, published later today (Monday), will lay out the various levels of restrictions that could be announced by the Welsh Government if the Covid-19 situation gets worse or, indeed, better.

It will also set out the criteria by which Wales could allow some regions to be in different levels of restrictions – a tiered system like the one being used in England.

But the first minister said regional rules could only be considered if an area showed a "reliable, predictable and sustainable" improvement in infection rates.

Mr Drakeford said on Friday the new plan was a response to "significant and sustained pressure on the NHS" in recent weeks, warning that Welsh hospitals "will not be able to cope" and could be treating 2,500 coronavirus patients on Christmas Day if the rates of infection continued to accelerate.

Today's action plan would "help you, businesses and public services plan in these rapidly changing circumstances," the first minister added.

If Wales does move to level four – the highest alert level in the new system – then any increased restrictions would not be done on a fixed-term, 'fire break' basis.

Mr Drakeford said level-four restrictions would, if implemented, be "reviewed on a regular cycle" and renewed when appropriate – similar to the way in which the nationwide lockdown was managed in the spring.

The new plan comes with a fresh plea from the first minister, who said rules alone could not prevent the spread of coronavirus if some people continued to break them.

"Just passing another law is not guaranteed in any way to alter people's behaviours," he said. "Most people in Wales continue to do everything they can to follow the advice.

"The problem is, it turns out with this virus, you don't need many small acts of selfishness before they add up to a set of circumstances in which you see the virus accelerating."