Wales to ban visitors from UK coronavirus hotspots

Wales will ban people from entering the country from coronavirus hotspots in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced.

The restrictions will come into force from 6pm on Friday (October 16).

It comes after an increase in coronavirus cases across Wales and the rest of the UK in recent weeks.

In Wales, 15 local authority areas, one town and one city have been placed under a local lockdown. Caerphilly County Borough was the first area to be placed under a local lockdown by Welsh Government on September 8.

However, under current local lockdown restrictions, people from UK coronavirus hotspots are already banned from entering Caerphilly County Borough, and other areas currently in local lockdown.

But the new rules will cover every local authority area in Wales, regardless of whether it is under local lockdown restrictions or not.

The First Minister had previously raised the issue with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but said: “There has been no formal response from Boris Johnson to my requests to restrict travel into Wales from coronavirus hotspots.

“I am preparing new regulations to protect the health of people in Wales that will come into force on Friday.”

The move has been supported by Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

Mr Drakeford said: “Evidence from public health professionals suggests coronavirus is moving from east to west across the UK and across Wales. As a general rule, it is concentrating in urban areas and then spreading to more sparsely populated areas as a result of people travelling.

“Much of Wales is now subject to local restriction measures because levels of the virus have risen and people living in those areas are not able to travel beyond their county boundary without a reasonable excuse.

“This is designed to prevent the spread of infection within Wales and to other areas of the UK.”

He added: “We are preparing to take this action to prevent people who live in areas where there are higher Covid infection rates across the UK from travelling to Wales and bringing the virus with them.

“I am determined to keep Wales safe.”

South Wales East Senedd Member Delyth Jewell, who represents Plaid Cymru, welcomed the move.

She said: “This is something that Plaid Cymru and concerned citizens all over Wales have been calling for since September, and I’m glad to see that action is now being taken.

“I’m sure that many people will have questions about what this means in practice, so I’d expect the Welsh Government to clearly communicate what the new rules are as soon as possible.”

Welsh Conservative leader Paul Davies accused the First Minister of acting “rashly” and said: “It is incumbent on the First Minister to explain just why he has chosen to act in this way, and what supporting evidence he and his ministers have seen to justify a ban and then publish it so it can be properly scrutinised.

“If he cannot or will not, then he must review and rescind this ban immediately.”