The Welsh Government have today (Oct 19) announced that they will have a 2 week “Firebreak lockdown” running from the 23rd October until the 9th November.
During this lockdown, restaurants and pubs, as well as non-essential shops will be forced to closed.
Citizens will be told to stay at home during this period.
Community centres, leisure businesses will be shut, with places of worship also being closed except for weddings and funerals.
The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, said:
“This is the moment to come together; to play our part in a common endeavour to protect the NHS and save lives. This will not be easy, but we will do it together.”
Businesses affected by the shutdown will be awarded money from a new £300 million fund, which will open next week.
He continued:
“This fire-break is our best chance of regaining control of the virus and avoiding a much-longer – and damaging – national lockdown. We have a small window of opportunity to act.
“To be successful, we need everyone’s help. Wales has shown throughout this pandemic that we can come together and take the actions to keep our families and our communities safe.
“We must come together once again to stay ahead of this virus and to save lives.”
The announcement from the Welsh Government, comes as mounting pressure is applied to the UK Government to implement a national lockdown for those in England.
With 2 of the countries of the United Kingdom having used these short, “circuit breaker” lockdowns, only England and Scotland remain to trigger such a lockdown.
