Swimming pools, gyms and indoor play areas to reopen

Swimming pools, indoor fitness studios and gyms will be able to reopen next week, First Minister Mark Drakeford is expected to confirm today (Friday, August 7).

They will be able to reopen from Monday (August 10), as part of measures to ease the coronavirus lockdown in Wales.

Children’s indoor play areas will also be able to reopen from Monday, but areas such as ball pits, which are harder to clean, will remain closed.

The First Minister also gave the green light for leisure centres to reopen. However, Caerphilly County Borough Council has confirmed its leisure centres will not reopen until at least September 1.

The council has said the delayed reopening will allow the leisure centre staff to return from redeployment at other services during the pandemic.

Council staff have been redeployed to help with the free school meals programme, recycling centres, contact tracing and more.

Mr Drakeford said: “We continue to take a step-by-step approach to easing the lockdown, closely monitoring the impact of each change we make.

“As more parts of our society and economy reopen, it is vital we all keep in mind our personal responsibility to do the right thing and make sure we continue to protect ourselves and others from the virus.

“This means keeping a two metre distance from others, washing our hands often and wearing a face mask on public transport. These are simple steps to take that benefit us all.

“The rules we have in place are not optional, they are there to protect us all.

“They are essential if Wales is to avoid another lockdown.”

Mr Drakeford also warned that action will be taken against people who aren’t following the restrictions.

He said: “As we have seen in many places around the world, this pandemic is far from over and we must remain vigilant.

“There is a significant risk cases in Wales could rise again and we will have to take further action if this were to happen. Only by us all continuing to do our part can we keep Wales safe.”

According to figures released by Public Health Wales on Thursday (August 6), three more people had died with coronavirus in Wales, taking the total number of deaths to 1,571.

Fifteen new cases of Covid-19 were reported, taking the confirmed number of cases to 17,389.