Shropshire Star

Wales' health minister defends pubs restrictions

Wales's health minister has defended the country's ban on pubs, restaurants and cafes serving alcohol, which comes into force at 6pm today (FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4).

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Wales's health minister Vaughan Gething has defended the country's new covid restrictions

Vaughan Gething said that the restriction is "based on the evidence of what works" and follows scientific advice, as well as similar measures taken in other parts of the UK.

"We face this awful choice of doing nothing and seeing our rates increase, and more people not surviving, or doing something like this, and doing something has a real harm that comes with it as well," Mr Gething said.

"There isn't a consequence-free choice to make but, in the balance that we have to strike, this is what appears to be effective within the UK, there's evidence supporting that and that's a choice that ministers have made.

"I don't expect people in the hospitality sector to welcome this, but hope they'll understand not just the difficult choices we have, but the responsibility we have to act to keep Wales safe."

Coronavirus cases increased in 20 of Wales's 22 local authority areas yesterday, with a "rising tide" of infections seen in both urban and rural areas, Mr Gething said.

He told Good Morning Britain that the Welsh Government is acting on scientific evidence in imposing a ban on pubs, restaurants and cafes serving alcohol from 6pm on Friday.

He said a £340 million package, in addition to measures taken by the UK Government, is being provided to support hospitality businesses that will be "hard hit" by the restriction.

"I won't pretend this won't have a really significant impact on those businesses, at pretty much the worst time of the year for them as well, and I really do recognise that," Mr Gething said.

"But if we don't act on the evidence, then I'm afraid we won't be meeting our responsibilities to keep Wales safe and to keep people alive."

In Wales, the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 is no longer falling, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

An estimated 18,100 people in private households had Covid-19 between November 22 and 28 – the equivalent of 0.60 per cent of the population.

This is up slightly from an estimated 16,400 people for the period November 15 to 21, or 0.54 per cent of the population.

Because of the relatively small number of tests and low number of positives in its Wales sample, results should be interpreted with caution, the ONS added.

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