Wales to allow outdoor gatherings of up to 30 people from Monday
Up to 30 people will be able to meet outdoors and large outdoor activities can resume in Wales from Monday, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.
The size of extended households can be increased to up to three households and a further household with a single adult or single adult with caring responsibilities will also be able to join.
Drakeford said the move to alert level 1 would be phased, with outdoor events opening first. Ministers will review the public health situation again, before 21 June, to determine whether indoor events can restart.
Meanwhile, larger organised events, such as concerts, football matches and sporting activities, will resume for up to 4,000 people standing and 10,000 people seated.
The first minister said the two-stage approach would enable more people to be vaccinated – and complete their two-dose course – amid growing concerns about the spread of the Delta variant across the UK.
Of the 12,431 cases of the variant first detected in India thus far confirmed in the UK, 97 are in Wales, compared with 10,797 in England, 1,511 in Scotland and 26 in Northern Ireland.
Drakeford said: “The emergence of the Delta variant shows the pandemic is not over yet and we all need to continue to take steps to protect ourselves and our loved ones. The risk of infection is significantly less outdoors than it is indoors. This is why we are phasing in the changes in this three-week cycle.
Covid variants: how much protection do the different vaccines offer? Read more“This will allow more people to enjoy events outdoors and take advantage of the Welsh summer, while we continue to roll out the vaccination programme to all adults. We will review the public health situation again in a couple of weeks to see whether we can continue to relax the restrictions and restart indoor events.”
The seven-day coronavirus case rate remains low in Wales, with the positivity rate at less than 1%.
Wales also has the best vaccination rates in the UK; more than 85% of the population has had one dose, and 45% have completed the course.