Vaccine passports are being considered in Wales if cases continue to rise, Health Minister Eluned Morgan has confirmed.
Infection rates in Wales are increasing across the majority of local authorities, with the latest infection rate across Wales as a whole on Thursday at 334.1 per 100,000 people – up from 321.7 recorded on Wednesday. You can find the number of cases for your area here. In Swansea, the rate has reached 498.4 cases per 100,000 people, the highest in Wales. Hospital admissions in the bay area remain low but they are rising.
Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed today there will be no immediate changes to the current coronavirus rules as Wales marks three weeks since nearly all restrictions were scrapped. But ministers are looking at the rising number of cases.
Read more: Mark Drakeford confirms no change to Covid rules
Ms Morgan said on Friday. "We are concerned by the increasing rates, but it fits in with the modelling that we had projected and the comforting thing is that we are not seeing the cases translate into hospitalisations at the rate we were seeing at the start of the year."
The Welsh Government confirmed that the public health position is "worse than it was three weeks ago" when the majority of restrictions were lifted, but they can't see a reason to change the restrictions that remain in place in Wales, bar some minor amendments. See the small changes here.
Cases are rising amongst younger age groups, and there are concerns that 25% of people aged 18 to 29 have still not been vaccinated. Earlier this week, 80 coronavirus cases in Swansea Bay were traced back to pubs, clubs and 'celebration venues'.
Swansea Bay Health Board is urging people to take care when socialising as Covid cases double week on week, with under 30s taking the biggest hit. In the past week, Swansea reported 944 cases - an alarming jump from 487 the previous week.
Vaccination passports to get into venues like nightclubs are one of the measures being considered to address the issue.
"The First Minister has made it clear today that we will consider the case for the use of certification for entry into higher risk settings for example nightclubs and those sorts of places," the health minister told BBC Radio Wales on Friday.
"We are not there yet, but that is certainly something that we will consider if we see these rates increasing at the same rate as we enter into that more difficult winter period.
"We have not made a decision on it yet, but it is certainly something we haven't written off at this stage. I would urge people to get the vaccine. There are still around 25% of those aged between 18 and 29 who haven't had the vaccine, which is quite a high proportion and we would like to see that go up."
Similar restrictions are being considered in Scotland after a sharp rise in coronavirus with cases more than doubling in the past week, and the country recording its highest number of new daily cases on Thursday. Scottish ministers are even considering a circuit breaker lockdown.
Ms Morgan also urged people attending festivals to be careful, and said it would be better for people to meet outdoors over the bank holiday weekend.
Speaking about the decision not to change the current restrictions, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: "The number of cases is increasing and the public health position is worse than it was three weeks ago, when we moved into alert level zero. It’s vital we all keep taking precautions to ensure the progress we have won is not lost."
He urged people to get vaccinated and to take "everyday steps" to reduce infection risk. He added: "Actions like these will help stop the need for any stronger measures. The pandemic is still with us and that means we have to get vaccinated and continue to take precautions to keep the virus under control."
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