Covid rules in Wales won't change, Mark Drakeford confirms

Mark Drakeford said that cases had fallen over the last three weeks after the country faced a “very serious situation” at the start of the last review period.

As many as one in 40 people were infected with the virus at one point, the highest rate throughout the pandemic.

At that time, Mr Drakeford said that the Welsh Government were “facing some very tough decisions”.

Thanks to all your hard work, coronavirus cases in Wales are falling.

As a result, we will not be making any changes to the current regulations – but the virus hasn’t gone away.

Let’s continue to work together and take up the offer of a vaccine to keep Wales safe and open. pic.twitter.com/2bQ9h8YgHr

— Mark Drakeford (@PrifWeinidog) November 18, 2021

However, since then cases have fallen to the extent that no changes need to be made to the current coronavirus rules in Wales, and the country will remain at Alert Level Zero for the next three weeks.

The first minister said: “I want to thank you for your hard work, thank you for following the rules and taking steps to protect yourselves and your loved ones.

“Thank you too for saying yes to the vaccine and to the booster.

“We are now at the end of the latest three-week review, all the hard work means we can stay at alert level zero, we will not be making any changes to the rules, and we will not be extending the use of the Covid pass to hospitality.

“But as we start preparing for Christmas, we need to keep working together to bring Coronavirus fully under control.

“As your government we want to do everything we can to keep Wales open and keep Wales safe.

“This means that the option of extending Covid Pass if cases rise again has to be kept on the table.

“It is needed. It will help keep hospitality businesses open and trading throughout the busy festive period.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and will work with businesses as we prepare for Christmas.”