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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Marcus Hughes

Playgrounds, community centres and outdoor gyms expected to reopen from July 20

Playgrounds, outdoor gyms and community centres will be re-opening in Wales from next week, First Minister Mark Drakeford is expected to announce on Friday.

The Welsh Government previously said play areas and community centres could re-open from July 20 provided the number of confirmed cases in Wales continues to fall.

On Thursday, Public Health Wales confirmed there were no new deaths related to Covid-19 in Wales for the second time this week.

The agency has not been notified of a death involving Covid-19 since Monday.

The First Minister will be appearing at the Welsh Government's daily press briefing on Friday.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "From July 20, playgrounds, community centres and outdoor gyms will be able to re-open gradually over the following weeks as and when safety checks and mitigations are put in place.

"Re-opening community centres will help local authorities provide summer holiday play schemes and childcare."

Playground gates were closed to children in Wales in March as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Detailed safety measures related the the re-opening are expected to be outlined by the First Minister on Friday.

The move will be seen as a positive step towards easing lockdown across Wales.

It comes as NHS Wales chief executive, Dr Andrew Goodall, warned a possible second wave could arrive in Wales towards the end of this year.

Speaking in a meeting of the Senedd's health, social care and sport committee on Thursday, Dr Goodall said a winter peak could be "much more sustained".

Dr Goodall said: "Despite looking to reset normal activity quarter by quarter and into the winter, we absolutely need to assume that there will be a second peak, and that we should expect it to be similar, if not worse, than our experiences in March and April."

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