Table service could return to pubs and restaurants in Wales as part of measures to tackle the spread of the Covid Omicron variant.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said the Welsh Government was considering the "full range of possibilities" for the hospitality industry, and would be making decisions in the coming week.
Speaking on the BBC's Politics Wales programme on Sunday morning, the AM for Cardiff West said the Welsh Government is the only one in the UK to have announced restrictions to come in force immediately after Christmas, with nightclubs having to close.
READ MORE: Wales 'likely to see a tsunami' of Omicron cases - government adviser
Acknowledging Wales was "marginally" advantaged by being a week or so behind the rest of the UK with the spread of the Omicron variant, he also described the period as "the calm before the storm" and admitted further restrictions would be considered by minsters this week.
He said: "I think the restrictions we are introducing after Christmas will help. Nightclubs will close, but it is not just nightclubs, the rules for work places, for retail are changing.
"We will be working this week on the rules about how hospitality will reopen after Christmas.
"I think it is inevitable when hospitality reopens we will need to build some extra defences into the way they operate otherwise people will not turn up there. That is the thing to remember, the reason we are doing this is for business reasons as well as health reasons."
Mr Drakeford said the government would be "looking back to the sorts of measures which we needed earlier in the pandemic", adding: "People will remember, it is not that long ago, that you went to a restaurant, your details were collected so they could be used for track and traces, that you ordered from where you sat, that you wore a mask when you moved around, not when you were eating and drinking, but if you were moving around the restaurant you used a mask when you moved around."
He also said "I'm not saying [the rule of six] isn't on the list of things we will consider but there are measures you can take before that and we will obviously be looking at the less intrusive measures first".
Referring to sporting events traditionally held over the Christmas period, including regional rugby derbies and the Welsh Grand National, Mr Drakeford said: "I think the full range of possibilities is still there. A lot of safeguards are built into some of those venues and they are out of doors so we are getting fresh advice from our public health experts as to whether or not it is still safe to go ahead with those matches.
"If they are not safe to go ahead as they are now, could you go ahead with a reduced number of people? Could you go ahead behind closed doors? Is it not safe to go ahead at all? All of those possibilities will be there, and the cabinet will meet again tomorrow (Monday, December 20) to thrash our ways through the advice we've got and the choices that are there to be made".
Quizzed on potential help for nightclub staff following the closures of the venues on Monday, December 27, Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government had put "£60 million on the table" for the sector, and would be looking at what support could be provided, with just over 100 venues likely to be affected across the country.
He said a furlough scheme like that earlier in the pandemic would need the support of the UK Treasury.
And he dismissed claims there was a £500 million 'rainy day' fund for Wales.
He said: "That money is there already to account for the fact we are running a much faster vaccination programme. That has to be paid for. We will need a TTP system right through the rest of this financial year, we need to invest in schools to support our children.
"The money is not sitting on a shelf doing nothing. That money is committed for all the other things we need to do, every penny of it will be spent. We are finding whatever we can for business support, but the idea there is a big stack of cash looking for something to do is frankly nonsensical."
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