Wales lifts face mask laws for most indoor places
Face coverings are not necessary in settings such as cinemas, theatres, community centres, museums and gyms.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.People in Wales are no longer legally required to wear face masks in many indoor places.
The law change on Monday means face coverings are not necessary in settings such as cinemas, theatres, community centres, museums and gyms.
But the Welsh Government said the mandate is still active in all retail settings, public transport and in health and care settings, unless a person is exempt.
This is part of our cautious and careful response to the pandemic. We will continue to consider the latest scientific and medical evidence to inform our approach
First Minister Mark Drakeford said the remaining protections are “proportionate to the public health situation and the risk of coronavirus”.
“Thanks to everyone’s hard work and all their sacrifices, cases of coronavirus are falling across Wales. Now is the right time to relax the general requirement to wear a face covering in many indoor public places,” he said.
“But we will keep the legal requirement in place in retail, public transport and health and social care, which are widely used and essential sectors.
“This is part of our cautious and careful response to the pandemic. We will continue to consider the latest scientific and medical evidence to inform our approach.
“Later this week I will be setting our longer term plans to manage the pandemic, as we carry out the regular three-week review of the regulations.”
When schools return from half-term break on Tuesday, decisions about face masks will be made by education bodies on a local basis.
Face coverings will no longer be routinely required in classrooms but they should continue to be worn in communal areas in secondary schools, Mr Drakeford said.
A review of all the remaining alert level zero regulations will next be announced on March 4.
The Welsh Government has said that if public health conditions continue to improve the outstanding face mask rules could be lifted by the end of March.