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Marthi’s Tidfill is one of four areas affected by the New Testament
Four more counties in South Wales will be locked down at BST on Tuesday, meaning more than a quarter of the Welsh population will be subject to strict restrictions.
Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend, Blaenau Gwent and Newport will have the same restrictions.
People will not be able to enter or leave these areas without a limited number of exemptions, such as work.
Licensed premises such as pubs must be closed by 23:00 every night.
People will be able to meet others, not just outside their own homes – meetings with people in their extended home inside the home will be banned in four areas.
The pub rule will also be extended last week in the Caffili County borough, which was under local restrictions.
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The new measures affect 431,000 people, meaning more than 850,000 people in Wales will be under local lockdown from Tuesday.
Customers at The Pen and Wig Pub in Newport on Monday were not sure a pub curfew would help control the virus.
Richard Wooding said the previous closing time could encourage people to party at home: “If the bars close earlier, people just come out earlier.
“I came out last Saturday, I was shocked by the number of people. The bar staff can’t police it. But I don’t think you can stop it. People are just going to party in their house.”
Rebecca James says the pub curfew will not have much effect during the week
Another customer, Rebecca James, said: “I don’t think there’s any nightlife here. There’s a weekend that will affect people, get home early, but everything in the week closes at 11am anyway.”
But Justin Cliff, who runs events for Le Pub, was concerned: “It’s not a good idea for us to close at 11am as a pub. This venue runs until 1am so it’s more of a place than nightlife. [somewhere for a] Pub lunch
“So the options we’re discussing are either the pub shuts down completely or we just take food or deliver food for delivery. We’re taking options, but it doesn’t look good.”
On Monday, Public Health Wells (PhW) reported that there were 234 more cases of people infected with the coronavirus, but no new deaths.
Of these, 40 were Rindada Sinon Tafe, 20 at Blaena Gowante, 15 at Kerfili, 14 at Brizend, 12 at Merthi and 11 at Newport.
In the last seven days, the number of people infected with the virus per 100,000 people was 102.6 in Merthia, 83.3 in Ronda Sinon Tafe, 600.1 in Blaena Gowant, 4 45.3 in Kerfili and Brijrand and 45.3 in Newport.
The polarity of considering the suffocating situation of segregation as a trigger for people returning from countries outside the UK government is 20.
Health Minister Van Gahing said there has been an increase in Kovid-19 cases in four counties since Monday’s extension.
What does local lockdown mean?
If you live in one of the six counties affected, the rules mean you cannot go to or leave the affected areas without a “reasonable excuse”.
These may include:
- For work, if you can’t work from home
- For education
- To buy necessary things like food or medicine
- Provide or receive emergency assistance
- To fulfill a legal obligation, and to access or receive government services
- To avoid injury or illness or to avoid the risk of loss
- To meet family or close friends because of empathy
Motorists can continue to travel through M4 and other roads.
Can there be broad regional restrictions?
At a news conference, Mr Gehing said he would hold an “emergency meeting” on Tuesday with the council, the health board and the police force from Bridgand to the English border.
It will discuss the broader regional situation and whether further action is needed.
Earlier, senior advisers to the UK government warned of a “six-month problem” in the growing case.
Mr Gehing said he could not “definitely” give a deadline for how long the lockdown would be needed.
He said “all wells” measures may be needed to deal with the virus.
But Mr Gehing said such a move could be less than the full lockdown imposed on March 23.
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Mr Gehing said Newport was seeing a “wide-ranging case spread”
A meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Wales Prime Minister Mark Dreckford is expected on Monday afternoon.
Mr Gehing said the situation could lead to action across the UK and that the call would be a “helpful step”.
The health minister said Merthi’s Tidfill incidence rate was high, but it was found that the two cases were in the vicinity of separate clusters, involving a large employer and a pub.
What is happening in the four regions?
The minister said Brigand was a “growing concern” because there had been a sharp rise in cases in a very short time.
“We have identified a number of clusters in Bridgand borough, but we are concerned that this pattern is similar to what we have seen in Ronda Sinon Taffy.”
Newport “is seeing a wide range of cases across the city that are not linked to any specific cluster or show links to existing cases”.
Mr Gehing at Blaena Gowant said there were connections to the pubs and a lack of social distance, but the same happened to care home staff and secondary schools in the area.
What is the political reaction?
Welsh Conservative health spokesman Andrew RT Davis called for “smart, hyper-local lockdowns”.
“Ministers and governments need to do everything possible to avoid another blanket national lockdown as the health and economic impact on the people will be catastrophic,” he said.
Helen Mary Jones, her Plaid Simru counterpart, called for raising the Furlough to support the local lockdown.
“If Westminster does not extend the Farlow scheme to support local lockdowns, the Welsh government should look into what assistance they can provide,” he said.
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