Social distancing, masks and hand washing could still be in place at the end of the year in Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.
Mr Drakeford said if cases continued to fall then only "simple restrictions" such as social distancing measures would be necessary.
He also warned there could be "more twists and turns" in the pandemic and there was no certainty that the risks of coronavirus have passed.
His comments came after the UK's top medic Professor Chris Whitty warned that the chance of wiping out Covid-19 for good was "close to zero".
Government advisers have previously said that masks could still be necessary for some time, with Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance recently saying face coverings could be needed this winter in some circumstances.
Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, warned at the weekend that face coverings and social distancing could be needed for several years until other countries successfully roll out jabs.
Answering questions in the Senedd on the anniversary of the first lockdown, Mr Drakeford said: "If things go well, then by the end of this year we may be living with the simple restrictions, the social distancing, the hand washing, the mask wearing in crowded places, the things we have become very used to doing to keep one another safe.
"But we simply cannot, I think, say to people with certainty we would like that all the risks of coronavirus are already passed. There may be more twists and turns in the story yet".
The road map out of lockdown in England says "all legal limits on social contact" will be lifted no earlier than June 21, which could include masks and other social distancing.
But SAGE expert Professor Neil Ferguson suggested that people may choose to continue wearing face coverings and obeying social distancing guidance even after the rules are scrapped.
Prof Ferguson, who was one of the architects of the first lockdown, told BBC Breakfast: "I suspect, later this year, the mandates, the legal requirements to do some of those things will have gone.
"I think there's an interesting question as to whether people's behaviour changes as quickly.
"People have got used to being very cautious around each other, used to wearing masks.
"I can't predict how quickly that will change or whether we've actually seen a permanent change in society, to some degree.
"I think it's quite possible that this pandemic, which has been an immensely traumatic event for this country and for the world, will cause significant long-term cultural changes, behavioural changes in the population."
He pointed to the practice of wearing a mask in Southeast Asia if people have a cold, and said it could become common in the UK.
