Here are the new Christmas rules for Wales after the Welsh Government made major changes.
There are critical changes to what had been expected all around Wales. The changes affect the number of households who can meet up, force non-essential retail and other businesses to close, and put Wales into a full lockdown from December 28.
Announcing the rule changes, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the changes were as a result of a sustained rise in coronavirus cases in Wales and the "very serious situation" Wales was facing. One in five people in Wales are testing positive for the virus.
He said: "When I spoke to you on Friday, I explained that if we didn’t see a change in the current course of coronavirus in Wales, then a move to tighter restrictions would be inevitable. Since then, we have seen a sustained rise in coronavirus in our communities and in our hospitals."
These are the new Christmas rules and advice for Wales
- Only two households should come together to form an exclusive Christmas bubble during the five-day period — a single person can join this arrangement
- All non-essential retail, including all leisure and fitness centres and all close contact services, like hairdressers, will close at the end of trading on Christmas Eve
- All hospitality premises will close from 6pm on Christmas Day
- On December 28, tighter restrictions for household mixing, staying-at-home, holiday accommodation and travel will apply — in effect a full lockdown
- Everyone who can work from home should do so now
- Local authorities will now take decisions about the range of services they provide, such as libraries, leisure centres and recycling centres ahead of Christmas
- This new set of higher-level restrictions applies to the whole of Wales.
Further joint advice is expected to be published later today across the UK.
Mr Drakeford said: "The situation we are facing is extremely serious. We must move to alert level four and tighten the restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus and save lives.
"This has been a such a long and difficult year. But that cannot lift the responsibility from us to act now. We need to take this action to save lives and control the spread of this awful virus."
Survey: How do you feel now about Christmas in Wales?
He added: "We will work with local authorities and the police to strengthen the enforcement of the coronavirus regulations and guidance to make sure all the measures to keep you safe are in place."
Yesterday and again this morning, Mr Drakeford met the First Ministers of Scotland and Northern Ireland and Michael Gove from the UK Government to discuss the common arrangements for the five-day Christmas period amid growing pressure, especially from within the health profession, to scrap the plans to relax rules.
How many cases are there in your area? Find out with your post code:
Mr Drakeford said: " In the few short weeks since we made this decision [to relax rules for Christmas] the situation has changed drastically as coronavirus has gripped the UK country once again.
"The fewer people we mix with in our homes, the less chance we have of catching or spreading the virus."
