PUBS, restaurants and cafes in Wales will be banned from serving alcohol from Friday and will be unable to open to customers beyond 18:00 HTS.

First Minister Mark Drakeford announced the new rules to tackle a rise in coronavirus cases.

Cinemas, bowling alleys, bingo halls, museums and galleries will also need to shut from Friday.

Mr Drakeford said without changes there could be between 1,000 and

1,700 preventable deaths over the winter.

Businesses will be allowed to provide a takeaway service after 18:00 of food or non-alcoholic drinks.

First Minister Mark Drakeford made the announcement during the Welsh Government briefing at 12.15pm on Monday, November 30.

The new restrictions are modelled on Scotland’s Tier 3 restrictions – you can see more details of the announcement here and follow below for live updates from Mr Drakeford’s press conference.

Mr Drakeford said said the measures were based on advice from the UK’s Sage group of scientific advisors and would be reviewed on December 17.

“From 6pm on Friday, our national measures will be amended to introduce new restrictions for hospitality and indoor entertainment attractions,” he said.

“Pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes will have to close by 6pm and will not be allowed to serve alcohol. After 6pm they will only be able to provide takeaway services.

“From the same date, indoor entertainment venues, including cinemas, bingo halls, bowling alleys, soft play centres, casinos, skating rinks and amusement arcades, must close.

“Indoor visitor attractions, such as museums, galleries and heritage sites will also have to close. Outdoor visitor attractions will remain open.”

At Friday’s Welsh Government press conference, First Minister Mark Drakeford said that further restrictions on hospitality would be needed to ensure that there is enough headroom for Wales to relax coronavirus restrictions in time for Christmas.

He said the R number in Wales is now as high as 1.4 meaning the virus is spreading exponentially again.

He said that discussions were underway to finalise the details of the new arrangements and there would be a “major package of financial support”. He said more details would be announced on Monday.

He said: “The Cabinet has agreed to take further specific and targeted action to reinforce the current national measures we have place.

“We will focus these on places where we meet and where coronavirus thrives, drawing on the recent evidence from the UK Sage group of experts about what interventions have had the biggest impact on the virus.

” It has highlighted the positive impact of measures in the Scottish level three system and the English tier three restrictions.

” We are already doing many of these here in Wales. Any additional actions we will take will build on the Sage advice but will be bespoke to our unique circumstances.

“Cinemas, bowling alleys and other indoor entertainment venues will close.

“There will be new restrictions in the hospitality industry, which will come into effect next Friday.

“The sector has worked hard to put in place measures to protect the public and I know this will be a worrying time for all working in the industry.

“We will be working over the weekend with partners to finalise the details of the new arrangements and to put in place a further major package of financial support to respond to those changes.

“I will give further details about the package on Monday.

“Non-essential retail; hairdressers; gyms and leisure centres will continue to operate as now.

“These new arrangements will apply to the whole of Wales.”

Mr Drakeford said it was needed because there were very high rates in some parts of Wales.

He said: “All this is necessary because we need a further national effort to bring down rates in those parts of the country where they are high and to protect those areas from getting any worse, where cases are lower.

“A national approach can protect us all.”

He added: “We are particularly concerned about the increases we’re seeing in people under 25.
“Over the course of the pandemic, this is how the virus has spread – initially among younger age groups and then to older and more vulnerable groups.

Mr Drakeford said Wales would not be able to relax restrictions at Christmas unless he took action now.

He said: “Earlier this week, I met the First Ministers from Scotland and Northern Ireland and Michael Gove, from the UK Government, to discuss a common set of arrangements for Christmas.

“We agreed a five-day period between December 23 and 27 where travel restrictions would be lifted across the UK and up to three households would be able to form a Christmas bubble.

“Relaxing the restrictions will allow families to be together – maybe for the first time this year – for a few days over the festive period.

“But there is always a risk that when we come together we will spread or catch the virus.

“We therefore need to make sure have as much headroom as possible as we approach this Christmas period to enable us to relax these restrictions.

“This week we have seen restrictions tightened and extended in many countries across Europe.

“The UK Government has announced a strengthened tier regime, which comes into force in England from Wednesday. Northern Ireland today starts a new two-week lockdown and Scotland has extended the highest level restrictions.

“We too now have to use the coming weeks to reduce the spread of the virus and create more headroom for the Christmas period.”

A range of grants and support packages for businesses impacted by the further restrictions have been announced.
Pembrokeshire County Council Leader, Cllr David Simpson, said: “Our officers are now examining the details of the new measures and what they mean for our own services and businesses across the county.

“Once we have further details, including on the process for how the new grants will be administered, we will make that information public.

“We really appreciate that the local hospitality sector has already done a huge amount to support the control of the spread of infection.

“However, we are now seeing increased numbers of Covid cases and it is as important as ever to maintain our vigilance.

“I would ask everyone to please continue to wash their hands regularly, follow social distancing rules, wear a face covering where required and ensure that if you are suffering Covid-19 symptoms you self-isolate immediately and get a test.

“We must all take personal responsibility for the actions we take to prevent the spread of coronavirus and help keep us and our loved ones safe.”

Paul Davies MS – the Leader of the Opposition in the Welsh Parliament – has said the new restrictions announced today on the hospitality sector, which will be imposed from Friday are “disproportionate, and unfair”.

Mr Davies said: “This blanket approach across all of Wales is disproportionate and will unfairly affect parts of the country where infection rates are significantly lower than others, and will harm the sector to such an extent that large parts of it may not recover.

“This is after they have invested hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of pounds on making their premises as safe as possible.

“With the best will in the world, and especially in the run-up to Christmas, if pubs and cafes cannot sell alcohol with meals, it could encourage people to drink at home and in groups. All the evidence so far has shown that these sorts of interactions are generally more likely to be a cause of transmission.”

Preseli MP Stephen Crabb has called the First Minister’s latest restrictions a ‘hammer blow’ on the hospitality sector.

Commenting following the announcement, Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb said: “Hospitality businesses in Pembrokeshire have worked hard and invested to make their venues as safe as possible.

“The First Minister banning the sale of alcohol but also forcing businesses to shut at 6pm is a hammer blow at a time of year when they need our support.

“I hope the Welsh Government bring forward clear plans to financially support these businesses and that the mistakes made during other application processes aren’t repeated.”