Welsh Government’s three-week Covid review to take place tomorrow

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The Welsh Government’s three-week coronavirus review will be held on Friday, September 17.

In that review, Welsh Government ministers will discuss the current coronavirus situation in Wales. The review may see changes made to the current coronavirus restrictions in place in Wales, with cases rising significantly in recent weeks.

In the seven-day period between September 5 and September 11, 15,585 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Wales. This equate to an incidence rate of 494.3 per 100,000 people.

In Caerphilly County Borough, 1,155 new cases were recorded in the same time period, which works out as 637.9 cases per 100,000 people – significantly higher than the Welsh average.

Only Neath Port Talbot (711.0), Carmarthenshire (706.1) and Merthyr Tydfil (692.9) had higher cases per 100,000 people than Caerphilly in the same period.

In September last year, Caerphilly became the first local authority area in Wales to enter a local lockdown. At the time, the case rate in the borough was 55.4 – roughly 11 times lower than it is currently.

However, this was at a time when coronavirus vaccines had yet to be approved for use in the UK.

Now, with the vast majority of adults in Wales having had both vaccine doses and booster vaccines on the horizon, Wales is under far less restrictive measures than have been in place since the virus outbreak in 2020.

However, all eyes will be on First Minister Mark Drakeford, who will announce what, if any, changes will be made to the current measures following Friday’s review.

With the review looming, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS has voiced his opposition to vaccine passports and urged the Welsh Government not to introduce them. His Conservative counterparts in Westminster have recently ditched plans to introduce vaccine passports for nightclubs and large events in England.

Mr Davies said: “The latest data indicates coronavirus cases in Wales are beginning to level off, and the Welsh Government’s most recent modelling predicts the current wave of delta infections is to peak by the end of this month.

“Given the fantastic vaccination programme, it’s vital ministerial focus remains on recovery and tackling the things that matter most to people across Wales such as NHS waiting list backlogs and our economic recovery.”

He also called for a “swift and efficient rollout of booster jabs” and urged Welsh Government to ensure the economy and public services “can recover and operate without the reimposition of restrictions”.