'I thank everyone for their continued efforts and sacrifices'

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement last week outlining England’s plans to ease restrictions, it’s important to highlight the current situation in Wales.

Here, coronavirus regulations are reviewed every three weeks, with the latest one taking place on 19 February.

Thankfully, the general picture is improving slightly and education remains the Welsh Government’s top priority.

From last Monday (22 February), children aged three to seven started returning to schools in Wales, although in Wrexham children in the Foundation Phase only started returning to the classrooms on Friday (26 February). The Welsh Government hopes all primary school children will be able to return to their classrooms from 15 March, as well as those in years 11 and 13. It also hopes all pupils will be able to return to schools after the Easter break (12 April), but this cannot be confirmed yet. There is evidence to suggest allowing all children to return to school on the same day will increase the R rate by 10 – 15%, which is why the Welsh Government is adopting a phased approach.

There were some minor changes to the regulations at the latest review. Four people from two different households are now able to meet outdoors for socially distanced local exercise and from 1 March, the law will be changed to allow licensed wedding venues, such as visitor attractions and hotels, to re-open but only to perform wedding and civil partnership ceremonies.

At the next review on 12 March, if coronavirus rates continue to fall and stabilise, the Welsh Government will consider the restrictions around non-essential retail and close-contact services, plus the stay-at-home requirements could be lifted. The First Minister also indicated parts of Wales’ tourism industry could reopen by Easter, again, depending on transmission rates of the virus.

After a long winter, there is a glimmer of hope as we approach spring. Cases are falling and Wales’ incredible vaccination programme is accelerating. In recent weeks, Wrexham has fallen from 300 cases per 100,000 to 75 as of last Wednesday. After having the highest rates in North Wales just a few weeks ago, we now have the lowest. This is really encouraging and I thank everyone for their continued efforts and sacrifices.

For the time being, we must continue to err on the side of caution. We’ve seen how quickly the situation can deteriorate. Hopefully, there will be a greater relaxation of the restrictions at the next review but, for now, people must continue to follow the current lockdown rules to help keep Wrexham and Wales safe.