WALES is set to go back into lockdown just days after Christmas.
Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford announced that all non-essential retail, including close contact services and all leisure and fitness centres, will close at the end of trading on Christmas Eve. All hospitality premises will close from 6pm on Christmas Day.
READ MORE: Relaxation of coronavirus rules over Christmas to go ahead despite warnings
The whole country will then move into Level 4 on December 28, just as the relaxation of the rules for Christmas comes to an end.
Last month, the four nations agreed a joint approach to allow three households to mix between December 23 and 27.
However, with rising cases, that decision has come under intense pressure.
Drakeford said the situation in Wales was "extremely serious",with one in five people testing positive for the virus.
More than 2100 people, "equivalent to five full general hospitals", were being treated in the NHS with Covid, he said.
Drakeford said that he now recommended that only two households should come together to form an exclusive Christmas bubble during the five-day relaxation period.
He said: “Many of you will have seen the warnings from senior clinicians about the huge impact coronavirus is having on the whole of our health service.
“The situation we are facing is extremely serious.
“We must move to alert level four and tighten the restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus and save lives.
“This new set of higher-level restrictions will apply to the whole of Wales.
“This means all non-essential retail, including close contact services and all leisure and fitness centres will close at the end of trading on Christmas Eve.
“All hospitality premises will close from 6pm on Christmas Day.”
On the relaxation over the festive period, Drakeford said: "In the few short weeks since we made this decision, the situation has changed drastically as coronavirus has gripped the UK country once again.
“Later today, we will publish joint advice across the UK, explaining that a smaller Christmas is a safer Christmas.
“That a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas.”
He added: “The fewer people we mix with in our homes, the less chance we have of catching or spreading the virus.
“None of us wants to be ill this Christmas. And we don’t want to give coronavirus to our close family or friends.
“The chief medical officer for Wales has provided special advice for people who were previously shielding about mixing over Christmas.”
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