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Breaking: North Wales lockdown restrictions are announced


September 29, 2020 - 2066 views

Local restrictions have been announced for Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham in response to rising cases and high numbers of infections.

The announcement made on Tuesday evening by Welsh Government Health Minister Vaughan Gething will see the same restrictions which have been seen in South Wales applied locally.

Local council leaders have been briefed on the steps which now need to be taken.

Major restrictions on travel and meeting people outside the family 'bubble' will be enforced on Thursday evening at 6pm.

Travel to and from the North Wales areas will not be permitted unless people have a 'reasonable' excuse, such as going to work. Again, Welsh Government has reiterated the importance of working from home whenever possible.

In addition it will now be illegal to meet others indoors who are not within your immediate household unit and other Wales' wide regulations will remain in place.

Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, said: "Unfortunately, we have seen a rise in coronavirus cases in four north Wales local authority areas – in Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham and Conwy. These are largely linked to people socialising indoors and are the pattern of transmission similar to what we have seen in South Wales.

"We have worked closely with local authority leaders and the police in North Wales and we all agree about the need to take swift action to control and the spread of the virus.

"Large parts of Wales will now be subject to local restrictions but I want to be clear – this is not a national lockdown. These are a series of local restrictions to respond to rises in cases in individual areas.

"It’s always difficult to make the decision to impose restrictions but we hope that these measures will make a positive difference – just as we have seen in Caerphilly and Newport, where local residents have pulled together and followed the rules.

"It is important we all work together and support each other. This isn’t just about protecting ourselves, it’s about protecting each other."

In the last fortnight cases in Conwy have reached 72.5 cases per 100,000 of population and 73.1 cases per 100,000 in Denbighshire. This has been set against a North Wales Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board average of 56.3 cases per 100,000 of population.

85 new cases have been reported in Conwy in the last 14 days, 70 in Denbighshire and 118 in Flintshire.