Covid: Face masks stay mandatory in Wales as Drakeford takes swipe at Johnson ‘free-for-all’

Facemasks will remained mandatory in Wales even as most other coronavirus restrictions are lifted over the coming weeks, First Minister Mark Drakeford announced on Wednesday — in contrast to growing confusion in England about the policy.

“This is not a free-for-all,” he said as he announced an easing of rules.

“In Wales, we will not abandon those simple but effective measures that have helped to keep us all safe.”

He announced that The Welsh government said that starting on 17 July, Wales will move fully into alert level one, and could proceed to level zero — the lowest — on 7 August.

The plan was temporarily paused four weeks ago so more people could be vaccinated in Wales amid the rise of the delta variant.

Mr Drakeford is confident the successful vaccination rollout has weakened the link between infections and serious illness.

Still, he warned, “there is a risk that this third wave of the pandemic could cause real harm – either direct harm from the virus or indirect harm from people having to isolate.”

Mr Drakeford told the Senedd that he “much regretted” Boris Johnson’s decision to end quarantine for vaccinated travellers returning from amber list countries.

“But because the vast majority of international travel to and from Wales is via England, it is untenable for us not to do the same thing,” the First Minister said.

“However, we continue to advise against all but essential travel abroad and we continue to strongly recommend to people to holiday at home this summer.”

Nightclubs will be allowed to reopen and limits on the number of people who can meet indoors will be lifted and replaced with a requirement for workplaces to carry out Covid-19 risk assessments.

“Life will have returned very substantially to how it was before the coronavirus pandemic began,” Mr Drakeford told the Senedd.

The country’s incidence rate is currently 145 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people - the lowest in the UK - and it also has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world with 73% of adults having received both doses.

On Tuesday, there were 69 people in Welsh hospitals with Covid-19.

Alert level one guidelines stipulate that up to six people can meet indoors in private homes and holiday accommodation, organised indoor events can take place for up to 1,000 seated and up to 200 standing, and ice rinks can reopen. Also, children in groups of up to 30 will be allowed to meet in children’s residential activity centres.

Under the alert level zero, restrictions on the number of people meeting will ease, and outdoor premises and events will also have greater flexibility around physical distancing.

All premises would be able to open. Most – but not all – restrictions will be removed and replaced with the ongoing requirement for all organisations and businesses to carry out Covid risk assessments. Accordingly, reasonable measures will be adjusted to keep workers and customers, and visitors safe.

There will also be no legal limits on the number of people who can meet others indoors, including in private homes.

Face coverings will be mandatory in most indoor public places and on public transport at alert level zero, except in hospitality settings.