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Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Cathy Owen

This is what Cardiff looked like last night as pubs closed at 10pm for the first time

Would-be late-night drinkers in Wales have faced the first evening of new measures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.

All pubs, bars and restaurants had to shut by 10pm on Thursday, September 24 to comply with new rules that were announced earlier this week.

Along with the 10pm closing times, all hospitality venues must now offer table service only to try to help contain the spread of Covid-19.

The streets of the capital were eerily quiet as pubs and clubs heeded the curfew.

A worker mops the floor in the Cambrian Tap pub after pubs closed at 10pm (Getty Images)
A sign in the window of a McDonalds restaurant (Getty Images)
A worker rolls barrels into the Brew Monster bar as it closes (Getty Images)

The rules for England contrast with those in Wales, where pub-goers will be given an extra 20 minutes to finish their drinks after last orders.

Changes to coronavirus regulations brought in at 6pm on Thursday mean Welsh hospitality businesses including pubs, cafes, restaurants, sports clubs and casinos must not supply alcohol between 10pm and 6am the following day.

A worker locks the doors of Central Bar (Getty Images)
A sign saying Sorry no under 18s in a pub window (Getty Images)
A worker rolls barrels into the Brew Monster bar (Getty Images)

Licensed premises are only able to provide table service for customers when consuming food or drink - and following a 20-minute period to allow customers to finish their drinks at 10pm - must close by 10.20pm.

Some venues, however, have already closed themselves down because of the new restrictions.

One of those was Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff city centre, which released a statement saying: "We have taken the difficult decision to close our doors again.

"We are confident that the measures we have in place provide a safe and welcoming environment, the additional staffing costs associated with running a venue in line with the current guidelines coupled with the new restrictions mean that it is no longer financially viable for us to remain open.

It comes as Cardiff residents are warned they could face local restrictions after the number of Covid-19 cases in the Welsh capital "accelerated rapidly".

Unusual to see St Mary Street so quiet on a Thursday night (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

The city's council leader Huw Thomas said the capital was "yet" to face local lockdown measures but had seen 38.2 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people over the past five days.

Over the past seven days, Cardiff reached a test positivity rate of 3.8%, exceeding the Welsh Government's "amber" threshold of 2.5% - part of its "traffic light roadmap" strategy for managing the pandemic.

Cllr Thomas said: "This has meant that over the past week Cardiff has moved from a relatively stable position to one where the city is on the verge of entering the Welsh Government's 'red zone'."

 
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