Three other counties in Wales will be put into domestic lockdown after coronavirus cases spike.
Neath Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and Turvin will join many other parts of the UK in undergoing local translation Covid-19 Restrictions.
The measure will affect more than 360,000 people and means that half of the Welsh local authority areas, 11 out of 22, will soon be subject to specialized measures.
This map shows restricted areas before today’s announcement
The new restrictions will take effect at Neath Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and Torfaen, starting at 6 PM on Monday.
They include:
- Not allowing residents to enter or leave these areas without an acceptable excuse, such as travel for work or education
- Residents’ inability to meet people they do not live with indoors – whether in homes, bars, or anywhere else – without a good reason, such as providing care
- Residents will not be able to form or be in families or extended bubbles
- All licensed buildings will have to stop serving alcohol at 10 PM
- Everyone over the age of 11 will be required to wear face coverings indoors open to the public.
More than 15.6 million people – just under a quarter of the UK’s population – were already slated to be subject to domestic coronavirus measures by Sunday evening, before the three new Welsh provinces are announced.
New measures are already scheduled to go into effect in Cardiff and Swansea from 6pm.
In the two largest cities in Wales, people would not be able to enter or leave the areas without a reasonable excuse.
They will not be able to meet anyone with whom they do not live indoors, with extended families suspended.
Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakford said on Sunday: “After the alarming rise in coronavirus cases across South Wales, we took action Friday to impose local restrictions on Coronavirus in Yaneli, and local restrictions will go into effect in our two largest cities – Cardiff and Swansea. – tonight.
“We are now taking more action and putting three other areas under local restrictions in South Wales – Neath Port Talbot, Turvin and Vale of Glamorgan – because we are seeing rates going up in these three regions.
“These areas also share borders with local authority areas where the rates are much higher.”
Mr. Drakford said that the “difficult decision” was taken in an attempt “to protect people’s health, try to break the chain of transmission and stop the worsening of the situation.”
“This is not a territorial lockdown – it is a series of local restrictions in each area of local authority to respond to a certain spike in cases in each region, which have distinct and unique chains of transmission,” the prime minister added.
“In some places, like Kerveli and Newport, we’ve seen a really positive drop in response and hopefully they start relaxing if they keep going.”
The ban on mixing families went into effect in Wigan, Stockport, Blackpool and Leeds on Saturday, while stricter rules are already in effect across vast swaths of the Northwest, West Yorkshire, the Northeast and the Midlands, as well as parts of western Scotland.
The ban on indoor mixing was extended across Northern Ireland and Scotland earlier this week.
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