FIRST minister Mark Drakeford will set out how Wales will move back to Covid-19 alert level zero over the next two weeks tomorrow, Friday.

Since Boxing Day (December 26) Wales has had alert level two Covid restrictions in place due to a wave of Covid cases, particularly the omicron variant.

But this evening the Welsh Government has issued a statement saying some of these restrictions can now be removed.

According to a statement from Welsh Government:

The Welsh Government is able to start removing the protections put in place in response to the omicron wave, thanks to the support of people across Wales and the successful booster campaign – more than 1.75million people have had the extra booster dose.

Mr Drakeford will deliver a press conference tomorrow from 12.15pm, when he will set out the two-week plan to ease the alert level two restrictions.

The move to alert level zero will be phased, with restrictions on outdoor activities being removed first.

More details will be revealed tomorrow, and will be reported here on the Argus website as soon as we have them.

The Covid measures which have been in place in Wales since December 26, 2021, have included:

  • The closure of nightclubs;
  • Two-metre social distancing in offices and public places;
  • A maximum of 30 people allowed to attend indoors events and up to 50 people at outdoor events – including community sports events;
  • The rule of six for people meeting in public places;
  • People attending weddings, civil partnership receptions, or wakes, asked to take lateral flow tests before going.

Last week Welsh Government also introduced changes to PCR testing in Wales following “unprecedented” demand for PCR testing.

These changes were:

  • People who are unvaccinated contacts of positive cases and are self-isolating for 10 days should now take a lateral flow test on day two and day eight instead of a PCR test.
  • If a person showing no symptoms has a positive lateral flow test they are now longer be advised to have a follow-up PCR test to confirm the result unless they are in a clinically vulnerable group, which may need early access to treatment or have been advised to do so as part of a research or surveillance programme.