Scottish restrictions on fans attending large sports events will be lifted on Monday as Welsh rugby bosses nervously await a decision for Wales' Six Nations matches.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced on Tuesday that crowds will be able to return to large outdoor sporting events from January 17.
Like Wales, Scotland adopted stricter coronavirus restrictions from Boxing Day in the face of soaring Omicron cases. Where Wales prevented fans attending professional sports events altogether, Scotland permitted 500 spectators.
This latest development in Edinburgh means Scotland will be able to host a full house for their home Six Nations matches against England on February 5 and France on February 26.
It also means Scottish football clubs will see supporters return next week, while Welsh fans are shut out at the likes of Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County and Wrexham. Other sports teams like Cardiff Devils are also affected.
Ms Sturgeon said: "There are some grounds for cautious optimism that a combination of the protective measures introduced before Christmas, responsible action on the part of the general public, and the rapid delivery of booster vaccines has had a positive impact."
Measures introduced before Christmas will be lifted in a "phased way" from Monday, starting with the removal of attendance limits on live outdoor events.
As for Wales, the Welsh Rugby Union, ticket-holders, fans and hospitality businesses await a decision on whether the Principality Stadium will host fans for matches against Scotland on February 12, France on March 11 and Italy on March 19.
Mark Drakeford today said: "Next week will be the end of a three-week review period. If we are very fortunate - and it’s a very big if - and we find we have passed the peak and we are on a reliable reduction in impact of coronavirus on us, then we will look to see what we can do to relax some of the protections we have had to put in place. But we will not do it until we are confident the scientific and medical advice to us is that it is safe to move in that direction."
Wales' health minister Eluned Morgan told a press conference on Tuesday that she was confident there is still time to analyse more data before making such a decision.
Asked to give an indication that the Welsh Government may follow Scotland in easing restrictions on crowds, the minister said: "I can assure you that we are keen to dismantle any restrictions as soon as we possibly can.
"We think it's our legal obligation to do that but we are in a situation where the pandemic is very much still with us.
"We are keeping a very close eye on the statistics that are coming in at the moment. We are hoping we are seeing a stabilisation in those numbers.
"Clearly I think it would be difficult for us to dismantle things if the numbers are continuing to rise.
"But certainly when it comes to the Six Nations, we think we've still got some time before those decisions need to be made. That is early February. There's still a bit of time for us to make those decisions.
"We are already discussing this in Cabinet.
"But it's unlikely that we will see an easing of those restrictions until we see at least a levelling off and coming down from the peak from these extremely high levels that we're seeing at the moment.
"Let's be clear about where we're at in this process, we are seeing the highest level of cases that we've seen throughout this pandemic - still in our communities today.
"Now would not be a sensible time for us to ease those restrictions."
England, of course, have not had restrictions on having fans at sporting events in the post-Christmas period, while Ireland - where restrictions of 5,000 fans at an event currently apply - are hopeful of their spectator cap being lifted by January 30 (just days before they host Wales in Dublin on February 5).
In France, outdoor public gatherings - including sporting events - have been restricted to 5,000 people since January 3.
In Italy, they tightened restrictions on the non-vaccinated in December, with their 'Covid pass' system set to remain until at least mid-January. However, there's no actual restriction on crowd capacity.
In terms of the "stabilisation" of Covid case numbers in Wales, they come with the caveat that we have not yet seen the impact of a return to schools, while the way positive test results are measured has changed given new rules from January 6 in Wales which mean people who have a positive lateral flow test result - but don't have symptoms - don't have to book a PCR test.
Ms Morgan added: "It would be great if we can see that stabilisation continue. But we do have to be cautious at the moment. There are a few variables that have come in.
"We just want to keep an eye on the situation for the time being. I think it's too early to say whether we've reached the peak yet, but there's certainly some positive news out there, some positive data, but I think it's too early for us to become over-excited about having reached the peak."
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