WAG: CROWD EVENTS (INC. SPORT) TO RESUME IN WALES

Covid in Wales: Mark Drakeford to ease Wales' restrictions

Welsh Covid restrictions on large events and businesses brought in to tackle the Omicron variant will be scrapped in two weeks under new plans.

It follows mounting pressure from opposition parties demanding an exit plan, and falling case numbers.

Rules limiting outdoor activities will be lifted first.

The Welsh government said the success of the booster campaign meant it was able to lift restrictions, with 1.8 million having received an extra dose.

First Minister Mark Drakeford will announce the details of the plan, following the latest review of Covid rules, at a press conference at Friday lunchtime.

However, the Welsh government said the move to ease measures would depend on the public health situation continuing to improve.

Under the rules, sports fixtures were forced behind closed doors without spectators, and volunteer Parkrun events were cancelled.

Wales' case rate has fallen to its lowest level since 27 December - 1,492.4 per 100,000 people over seven days.

The number of people in critical care with Covid also stands at 20% of the level seen at the same point in January 2021.

The Welsh government imposed restrictions on large events and businesses in December following large increases in Covid cases in the UK, caused by the Omicron variant.

Nightclubs were closed, and the rules meant events were limited to a maximum of 50 people outdoors and 30 people indoors.

Pubs and restaurants were restricted to table service, with the rule of six in place, while workplaces and shops were required to impose social distancing measures.

The rules were in contrast to England, where UK government ministers chose not to impose further restrictions beyond Plan B despite health officials urging caution during the Christmas break.

Mr Drakeford will set out plans to move from alert level two to alert level zero by the end of the month, which would allow nightclubs to reopen and would see social distancing in businesses scrapped.

Under Wales' previous alert level zero rules, all businesses were allowed to open to the public with no restrictions on numbers at events.

Mask wearing laws remained in place in most public spaces including shops, and the government continued to advise people to work from home.

Covid passes were also required in nightclubs, cinemas and theatres.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-59984873

Why in 2 weeks...drakeford called the omicron virus wrong.He totally ignored the evidence from South Africa that said it was a very very mild strain similar to the common cold which its turned out to be.
Instead he choose to impose huge restrictions on our way of life

Why in 2 weeks...drakeford called the omicron virus wrong.He totally ignored the evidence from South Africa that said it was a very very mild strain similar to the common cold which its turned out to be.
Instead he choose to impose huge restrictions on our way of life

Face-saving; simple as...!

Never ever been grateful for rugby before.

He's got to keep his Welsh Rugby voters happy

Why in 2 weeks...drakeford called the omicron virus wrong.He totally ignored the evidence from South Africa that said it was a very very mild strain similar to the common cold which its turned out to be.
Instead he choose to impose huge restrictions on our way of life

Face-saving; simple as...!

Exactly that.

And in 2 weeks numbers will be that much better he can continue to believe it worked.

On to the next thing for him to make headlines over now. Not reducing isolation to 5 days like England.

On a very positive level, for most, it means we can get back into the CCS to get behind our team as they seek to move forward in their fight to beat the drop

Seems the club are doing their bit to ensure it happens by seeking new additions to support the existing squad and we need to show we are with them

I'm looking forward to it and can't wait...

Why in 2 weeks...drakeford called the omicron virus wrong.He totally ignored the evidence from South Africa that said it was a very very mild strain similar to the common cold which its turned out to be.
Instead he choose to impose huge restrictions on our way of life

Because it's just for the six nations which is far more of a super spreader, it was always on the cards, the rest of sport can suffer in the meantime, pathetic!!!

Yes he's been proved wrong he took measures that were not needed and will have damaged the economy in the process!

ha ha ha

As predicted - last week he was telling anyone prepared to listen to him there was a tidal wave of covid omicron coming towards us. He was right and Boris was wrong blah blah blah.

Only one of them could have been right. We now know the winner and correct prediction / policy was Boris Johnson not Drakeford.

Drakeford needs to address the Senedd and apologie

Don't you just love the looney left and that description fits Drakeford and his cronies perfectly. Despite 2 weeks ago saying there was a tsunami of new omicron infections on it's way which then changed to a storm last week Wales is now placed to remove his needless restrictions because of the success of the booster vaccine rollout. Anyone notice there is no thank you to the UK Government for procuring those vaccines or to Boris Johnson for accepting the scientific advice that the booster vaccine was the best way to protect people and not more restrictions.

Drakeford and his cronies got this wrong and the party animal Boris Johnson got it right it's as simple as that and after Nicoliar removed restrictions on sports this looney left Welsh Labour Government become the "Outlier" in how to deal with
this omicron variant.

But the good news is we can get back to watching football again and in other aspects of life we considered normal just a couple of years ago. And that's a massive positive.

How anyone could ever vote him or his party ever again is beyond me. Petty political point scoring which has cost lots of people lots of money - and for NO reason whatsoever. He gambled on lost - if anyone should be resigning its him

Since when do Tsunami's stop ???? Curious even from a charlatan such as Driftwood ?

If you look across Europe as a whole, Johnson and England are the odd ones out here - and he would have put restrictions in if he thought he had any chance of getting them past his backbenchers.

What has always amazed me is that people put Health v the economy. They are totally interlinked - if people are off sick or isolating, business is screwed BUT with no financial help from Govt (as has been largely the case in England).

As for Drakeford specifically lifting these measures to appease the WRU and rugby fans - that is frankly nonsense.

Yesterdays cases across Europe. FRANCE - 305,322, ITALY - 184,615 - SPAIN - 159,161 - UK - 109,133. Not so sure Johnson & England are the outliers now regarding cases and have not been for the last week.

ps. I am in no way a "Boris" supporter especially over events brought to light recently, but he seems to have got this call/gamble right.

ps. I am in no way a "Boris" supporter especially over events brought to light recently, but he seems to have got this call/gamble right.

Apologies for the double post. I don't know how it happened and was in no way intended.

ps. I am in no way a "Boris" supporter especially over events brought to light recently, but he seems to have got this call/gamble right.

Totally agree, Boris is a tool but called it right

Drakeford is a complete and utter tw*t who gets pretty much everything wrong

Don't you just love the looney left and that description fits Drakeford and his cronies perfectly. Despite 2 weeks ago saying there was a tsunami of new omicron infections on it's way which then changed to a storm last week Wales is now placed to remove his needless restrictions because of the success of the booster vaccine rollout. Anyone notice there is no thank you to the UK Government for procuring those vaccines or to Boris Johnson for accepting the scientific advice that the booster vaccine was the best way to protect people and not more restrictions.

Drakeford and his cronies got this wrong and the party animal Boris Johnson got it right it's as simple as that and after Nicoliar removed restrictions on sports this looney left Welsh Labour Government become the "Outlier" in how to deal with
this omicron variant.

But the good news is we can get back to watching football again and in other aspects of life we considered normal just a couple of years ago. And that's a massive positive.

Pathetic performance again and yes he couldn't bring himself to admit he was wrong, using one pointless graph to say look our peak didn't go as high as England's, who cares it will equal out in a month as Wales line will fall slightly slower.

He didn't have a slide to show the effects to the economies and Wales hospitality sector and sporting events will have lost a significant amount of income which will result in a loss to the economy, business's closing and a loss of jobs.

I'm all for needed measures at the right time but this was a massive mistake and just petty point scoring politics!!!

Agreed Boris 10 Drakeford 1 (just for less dancing and parties), our NHS will still still be overwhelmed and struggling more than England's for ever regardless of the extra measures, it's because it was more fragile in the first place!!!!

Covid passports ditched as well ?I can't see any mention for outdoor events.

ps. I am in no way a "Boris" supporter especially over events brought to light recently, but he seems to have got this call/gamble right.

Outlier in terms of not putting restrictions in place - the only reason Boris didn’t is because he couldn’t get it past his backbenchers. All of the scientists for all 4 nations would have given the same advice - they’ve said this in the past.

As for case numbers - these are a bit pointless. England has struggled to get testing kits out over Christmas (but amazingly found millions in storage this week) and changed the testing rules this week meaning fewer people can access testing (as well as the natural drop off in testing due to less mixing).

Drakeford may not have got it all right - but I maintain that the measures he put in were hardly ‘lockdown’, although weren’t great for wanting to watch sport or going to a nightclub. (I don’t vote Labour either before that gets thrown at me!)

Here are the figures for England attached completely unrestricted remember)

Did Drakeford publish the figures for Wales - there are some stats he refused to publish for some reason.

Basically England have continued to carry , NHS hasnt collapsed, maybe a few staff sick issues - but hospitalisations have coped as Johnson said they would. Events have carried on - and more importantly they have managed to trade and make money. Meanwhile - Drakeford killed the whole of christmas. It's pretty clear who got it right and who was hopelessly wrong again - with a dithering ineptitude of all his own.

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Don't you just love the looney left and that description fits Drakeford and his cronies perfectly. Despite 2 weeks ago saying there was a tsunami of new omicron infections on it's way which then changed to a storm last week Wales is now placed to remove his needless restrictions because of the success of the booster vaccine rollout. Anyone notice there is no thank you to the UK Government for procuring those vaccines or to Boris Johnson for accepting the scientific advice that the booster vaccine was the best way to protect people and not more restrictions.

Drakeford and his cronies got this wrong and the party animal Boris Johnson got it right it's as simple as that and after Nicoliar removed restrictions on sports this looney left Welsh Labour Government become the "Outlier" in how to deal with
this omicron variant.

But the good news is we can get back to watching football again and in other aspects of life we considered normal just a couple of years ago. And that's a massive positive.

Pathetic performance again and yes he couldn't bring himself to admit he was wrong, using one pointless graph to say look our peak didn't go as high as England's, who cares it will equal out in a month as Wales line will fall slightly slower.

He didn't have a slide to show the effects to the economies and Wales hospitality sector and sporting events will have lost a significant amount of income which will result in a loss to the economy, business's closing and a loss of jobs.

I'm all for needed measures at the right time but this was a massive mistake and just petty point scoring politics!!!

Agreed Boris 10 Drakeford 1 (just for less dancing and parties), our NHS will still still be overwhelmed and struggling more than England's for ever regardless of the extra measures, it's because it was more fragile in the first place!!!!

The graph he put up today which forms part of the ONS ongoing survey of "Home Infections" was not only out of date but includes a wide margin for error. He doubled down on the disinformation by claiming infections in England were still rising rapidly well last Friday in England 149k new infections this Friday 87K new infections. Drakeford and his cronies have cost the Welsh economy £100's millions with his needless restrictions and he should put his hand up and say sorry.

I won't hold my breath on that one.

Don't you just love the looney left and that description fits Drakeford and his cronies perfectly. Despite 2 weeks ago saying there was a tsunami of new omicron infections on it's way which then changed to a storm last week Wales is now placed to remove his needless restrictions because of the success of the booster vaccine rollout. Anyone notice there is no thank you to the UK Government for procuring those vaccines or to Boris Johnson for accepting the scientific advice that the booster vaccine was the best way to protect people and not more restrictions.

Drakeford and his cronies got this wrong and the party animal Boris Johnson got it right it's as simple as that and after Nicoliar removed restrictions on sports this looney left Welsh Labour Government become the "Outlier" in how to deal with
this omicron variant.

But the good news is we can get back to watching football again and in other aspects of life we considered normal just a couple of years ago. And that's a massive positive.

Pathetic performance again and yes he couldn't bring himself to admit he was wrong, using one pointless graph to say look our peak didn't go as high as England's, who cares it will equal out in a month as Wales line will fall slightly slower.

He didn't have a slide to show the effects to the economies and Wales hospitality sector and sporting events will have lost a significant amount of income which will result in a loss to the economy, business's closing and a loss of jobs.

I'm all for needed measures at the right time but this was a massive mistake and just petty point scoring politics!!!

Agreed Boris 10 Drakeford 1 (just for less dancing and parties), our NHS will still still be overwhelmed and struggling more than England's for ever regardless of the extra measures, it's because it was more fragile in the first place!!!!

The graph he put up today which forms part of the ONS ongoing survey of "Home Infections" was not only out of date but includes a wide margin for error. He doubled down on the disinformation by claiming infections in England were still rising rapidly well last Friday in England 149k new infections this Friday 87K new infections. Drakeford and his cronies have cost the Welsh economy £100's millions with his needless restrictions and he should put his hand up and say sorry.

I won't hold my breath on that one.

'Off the pace' pretty much sums Drakeford and his team up, Gary...

Covid passports ditched as well ?I can't see any mention for outdoor events.

No, those stay.

Wonder why..

Don't you just love the looney left and that description fits Drakeford and his cronies perfectly. Despite 2 weeks ago saying there was a tsunami of new omicron infections on it's way which then changed to a storm last week Wales is now placed to remove his needless restrictions because of the success of the booster vaccine rollout. Anyone notice there is no thank you to the UK Government for procuring those vaccines or to Boris Johnson for accepting the scientific advice that the booster vaccine was the best way to protect people and not more restrictions.

Drakeford and his cronies got this wrong and the party animal Boris Johnson got it right it's as simple as that and after Nicoliar removed restrictions on sports this looney left Welsh Labour Government become the "Outlier" in how to deal with
this omicron variant.

But the good news is we can get back to watching football again and in other aspects of life we considered normal just a couple of years ago. And that's a massive positive.

Pathetic performance again and yes he couldn't bring himself to admit he was wrong, using one pointless graph to say look our peak didn't go as high as England's, who cares it will equal out in a month as Wales line will fall slightly slower.

He didn't have a slide to show the effects to the economies and Wales hospitality sector and sporting events will have lost a significant amount of income which will result in a loss to the economy, business's closing and a loss of jobs.

I'm all for needed measures at the right time but this was a massive mistake and just petty point scoring politics!!!

Agreed Boris 10 Drakeford 1 (just for less dancing and parties), our NHS will still still be overwhelmed and struggling more than England's for ever regardless of the extra measures, it's because it was more fragile in the first place!!!!

The graph he put up today which forms part of the ONS ongoing survey of "Home Infections" was not only out of date but includes a wide margin for error. He doubled down on the disinformation by claiming infections in England were still rising rapidly well last Friday in England 149k new infections this Friday 87K new infections. Drakeford and his cronies have cost the Welsh economy £100's millions with his needless restrictions and he should put his hand up and say sorry.

I won't hold my breath on that one.

But wait. He doesn't lie.

Just had it confirmed Drakeford is a Jack.
He was heard saying we'll keep the scum out for another 2 weeks.

Damn those conspiracy theorists in South Africa telling us Omicron is the same as a common cold.

Wait until people understand those conspiracy theorists saying "the more you test, the more cases you find"... and that a positive case doesn't mean someone is sick or spreading coronavirus.

Put crap data in, get crap data out