FIRST Minister Mark Drakeford acknowledged that restrictions in Wales on staying local - meaning people must not travel more than five miles to meet others - were "unfair".

The easing of lockdown rules will be formally set out by Mr Drakeford at the Welsh Government’s daily press briefing on Friday, before the new rules come into force on Monday.

Mr Drakeford said ahead of the announcement that from Monday, people from two different households will be able to meet as long as they do not travel more than five miles.

"The reason why we are advising people to stay within a five-mile radius is this: we do not want this virus travelling from one community to another," the First Minister told Good Morning Britain.

"We have parts of Wales where there has been very little coronavirus and the last thing we want is for people to be travelling to those areas and taking the virus with them."

He added: "It's a sacrifice for those people whose family live further than five miles away, I understand that, and we'll review this again in three weeks' time.

"But for now, stay local, keep Wales safe. Those are the key messages that we're giving people in Wales."

Mr Drakeford said there was no cap on the number of people from one household that could meet people from one other household when the measures are eased in Wales on Monday.

"That household must stay together, it must be at two metres' distance from any other household and there's no number that caps that," he said.

"People will be allowed to meet in gardens but I do want to be really clear. This is permission for people to do it, it's not an invitation.

"The safest thing remain to see as few people as you can and to stay as locally as you can.

"So it's permission for people to do something which is very important but people should still be sensible about it, do it only when its necessary, stay apart from one another.

"Running to people's houses, sitting in gardens close together, having a beer and it all breaking down - that's definitely not what we are proposing in Wales."

The First Minister has also said the R infection rate in the country remains at 0.8.

Discussing the state of the R rate in Wales ahead of the relaxing of lockdown measures so people from two different households can meet each other outdoors, Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Well it is falling.

"The R rate across Wales is no better today than it was three weeks ago, which is why we have only limited headroom to make any difference.

"And that is why we decided to focus on this one measure to allow households to see one another."

Variations on the measures will be introduced in England and Scotland.

Asked what the R rate is currently, he said: "It was 0.8 three weeks ago, it is 0.8 today.

"For care homes it will be a little bit above that, for hospitals it will be below that, but it is falling in all contexts, but slower than we had hoped.

"And that is why we have limited headroom, can offer just one step forward and still remain in Wales determined to do this in as careful and as cautious way as is necessary."

Mr Drakeford said the number of deaths in care homes has been "deeply distressing" but that "at every stage the Welsh Government has instituted the policies that were recommended to us by our scientific and medical advisers".