PEOPLE in Wales should not expect a “definitive statement” on Christmas in the next few days or weeks, Health Minister Vaughan Gething has said.

Mr Gething told a media briefing on Monday that he had seen images of people who had “forgotten about social distancing and are returning to a more normal way of behaving”.

“If that continues, then we really will face difficult choices and we’re likely to see the trend that we’ve already seen with reducing cases, that could easily reverse,” Mr Gething said.

“This is a highly infectious virus that thrives on human contact. It’s also why we can’t have a definitive view at this point about what Christmas might look like.

“Whatever happens with Christmas and the festive season this year, it won’t be like normal.

“We’re still discussing issues about where we can get to with other governments across the UK on travel, and we’re still looking at the evidence about what we might be able to do around contact, but it does rely on the picture that we’ll see in the developing evidence over the coming weeks.”

The Leader:

The slide shared during the briefing. Image: Welsh Government

Mr Gething added Wales appears to be heading towards another large peak in deaths this winter, which underlines the importance of following the rules.

In the first two weeks of November, Public Health Wales reported more than 250 deaths from coronavirus.

He called it a "very sobering number", representing many people "who have left behind loved ones".

"I hope these figures help explain why we are taking coronavirus so seriously," he said.

Meanwhile, cases of coronavirus are continuing to fall in Wales following the country’s fire-break lockdown.

“On Friday, I said we’re starting to see some early very positive signs that cases of coronavirus are beginning to fall,” Mr Gething told the press conference in Cardiff.

“This downward trend is continuing. The seven-day incidence rate for Wales is now around 160 cases per 100,000 people – a reduction of 70 from this time last week.

“In Merthyr Tydfil, which had the highest rates in the UK just over a week ago, the rate has more than halved to around 330 cases per 100,000 people.”

Mr Gething said that other parts of the South Wales Valleys, which also saw “very high” rates, now had an incidence rate of less than 300 cases per 100,000 people.