New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Science & Tech
  2. Coronavirus
17 April 2020updated 06 Oct 2020 9:45am

Welsh government begins preparing for lockdown exit

By Samuel Horti

The Welsh government has begun preparing to ease coronavirus restrictions, and will use the next three weeks to put together a plan for leaving lockdown, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.

During that period, the government will work with officials across the UK to decide objective measures for when it is safe to ease the lockdown, Drakeford said. The Welsh government will also introduce public health surveillance to monitor new outbreaks after restrictions are eased and strengthen capacity in the Welsh health system.

“We are planning for the day when things can change,” Drakeford said. “If the data and the science tells us in three weeks time that we have suppressed the circulation of the virus to an extent where it is possible to begin to lift restrictions that is what we will look to do,” he said.

He said Wales’s approach to easing lockdown may be different “at the margins” to other parts of the UK, “but a UK way of doing things remains a strength”.

Content from our partners
Homes for all: how can Labour shape the future of UK housing?
The UK’s skills shortfall is undermining growth
<strong>What kind of tax reforms would stimulate growth?</strong>