Wales to go into national circuit breaker lockdown

By Lisa Riley

Published: 19 October, 2020

The Welsh government has announced that the whole country will be going into a circuit beaker lockdown from 6pm this Friday.

Announced today, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the lockdown would be in place until Monday 9 November in a bid to combat a surge in Covid cases. He warned that failure to act now would mean “more people will die”.

The lockdown will include bars, restaurants and pubs shutting down alongside non-essential shops, with people across the country told to stay at home.

Gatherings indoors and outdoors with people not in your household will also be banned.

Drakeford said the "time-limited 'firebreak'" would be "a short, sharp, shock to turn back the clock, slow down the virus and buy us more time".

The announcement follows an increase in Welsh case numbers with the lockdown replacing the 17 local lockdowns that have been in place.

Last week saw Lancashire move into the Tier 3 of England’s regional lockdown system, joining Liverpool which was already placed in Tier 3.

Meanwhile, Manchester is reported to have been told by a cabinet minister that today’s discussions over an enhanced support package are “final” in an effective ultimatum before the implementation of the strictest restrictions.