Wales’s 17-day firebreak lockdown has now come to an end and new national rules have been put into effect as part of the country’s coronavirus pandemic response. Express.co.uk has compiled a guide to explain what the new rules are and what that means you can and cannot do in Wales.
Wales implemented a firebreak lockdown last month in a bid to address the rising rates of coronavirus.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford siad the time-limited firebreak would be a “shot, sharp, shock to turn back the clock, slow down the virus and buy us more time.”
During the firebreak, people were told to stay at home and pubs, restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops were forced to close.
Primary school pupils returned to school under the firebreak rules after the half-term, but only Years 7 and 8 from secondary schools returned at that time.
Indoor and outdoor gatherings with people outside your household were also banned.
READ MORE: BBC host scoffs as Wales defends lockdown amid ‘huge’ Covid-19 cases
The number of patients in Welsh hospitals with coronavirus is now at its highest since the height of the first wave in April,
Many areas including Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent now have some of the worst COVID-19 infection rates in the UK.
Wales’ Health Minister Vaughan Gething said the country was beginning to see the rate of cases flattening out.
He said: “It’s still at a high rate which means that there’s still a reservoir of coronavirus within our communities.”
In Wales, there have been a total of 59,981 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
This equates to a rate of 1,902.4 per 100,000 people.
In the last seven days, the country has reported 8.601 new cases, which is equivalent to a rate of 272.8 per 100,000 people.
The death toll in the country now stands at 2,753 for those with COVID-19 on the death certificate and 2,033 vor deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
