London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Covid: Wales locks down as Christmas plans cut

Covid: Wales locks down as Christmas plans cut

A Wales-wide lockdown has been brought forward to Sunday with festive plans cancelled for all but Christmas Day.

First Minister Mark Drakeford told people to "stay at home" after urgent talks with ministers over a new strain of coronavirus.

Plans to relax rules from 23 to 27 December to allow people to celebrate with loved-ones have been scrapped.

Meeting up is now limited to Christmas Day.

Announcing the new measures, meaning people have to stay at home and only go out for essential reasons, Mr Drakeford said hundreds of people had already contracted the new, "more aggressive" strain of the virus in Wales.

"While we all want to avoid further disruption to businesses and plans for Christmas, our overriding duty is to protect lives here in Wales," he said.

The changes mean the Wales-wide lockdown, which was due to come into effect from 28 December, has been brought forward.

Boris Johnson has announced similar rules in England for Christmas, as well as tier four restrictions for London and the south east of England.

In Scotland, Covid restrictions will only be relaxed for one day at Christmas and mainland Scotland will be placed under the tightest restrictions from Boxing Day.



From Sunday, all of Wales is in the highest level of lockdown - level four - with all but essential shops closed, and people being told to "stay home" to save lives.

Gyms and beauty salons and non-essential shops will have to close at the end of trading today, while bars and restaurants will only be able to open for takeaways, and people will only be allowed to travel for "essential reasons".

During the level four lockdown period people will not be allowed to mix with anyone they do not live with, with only single person households allowed to form an exclusive support bubble with one other household.

What does it mean for Christmas?


From 23 to 27 December restrictions had been due to be eased to allow people from two households in Wales to meet - plus a single person household.

But now this period of relaxed rules has been cancelled, for all but Christmas Day.

On Christmas Day people will be able meet others to form a so-called "Christmas bubble", but people are being advised not to as cases continue to rise.

If you live in Wales, you will be able to travel to meet one other household - and a single person household - on Christmas Day anywhere in Wales.

You can also leave Wales to meet your household, subject to the local restrictions in the area you would be travelling to.

But the rules say you would need to be back at your own home by the end of the day.

Mr Drakeford said people who had already made plans to meet another household on Christmas Day had to do it "sensibly and in line with the rules".

Leanne Miller, from Swansea, said the news had left her family's Christmas plans in tatters.

"I've got two boys, 12 and 13, and we were supposed to see my husband's mum and dad. But the important thing is keeping them safe," she said.

Why is this happening?


The Welsh Government held an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday after serious concerns over a new strain of coronavirus, which has been confirmed in Wales.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has introduced tougher rules for London and south-east England for Christmas, in response to rising cases.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Drakeford announced the changes for Wales, saying: "We now know that this new strain is significantly more infectious and spreads more quickly than the original one.

"Throughout the public health emergency, we have had to respond quickly to the rapid changes, which have been so typical of coronavirus.

"Today has been one of those days when new information has required an immediate response."

He said he was told by UK government chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Valance that there was no reason to believe the vaccine would be less effective with the new variant.

Paul Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said it was clear the rules had to change due to the presence of a new strain of the virus.

"By working together and keeping to the rules we can ensure as many people as possible will be around to celebrate Christmas together in the years to come," he said.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price MS said people would be disappointed but the country had a "responsibility to keep one another safe".

He added: "No one wanted a Christmas like this. While we are once again asked to make a sacrifice at what is usually a sociable time of year, our collective effort is necessary, particularly as a new variant of Covid-19 has been identified."

What is the case rate in Wales?


A total of 120,432 positive cases have now been confirmed in Wales since the start of the pandemic, and 3,046 people have died with Covid-19.

The most recent data shows that all of the UK's seven most infected local authorities are in Wales.

Almost all health boards in Wales have now suspended some non-emergency services, as the demand on services increases.



Chris Williams of Public Health Wales said it was working with other UK organisations to respond to the new variant.

"It is normal for viruses to undergo mutations, and we expect this to happen. Although the variant is easier to transmit, there is currently no evidence that it is more severe," he said.

"We are reminding people that all current guidance relating to coronavirus continues to apply to the new variant, including advice relating to symptoms, social distancing, self-isolation, and vaccination.

"The new variant shows up as positive in Public Health Wales' existing coronavirus tests, and people must continue to seek a test in the usual way if they develop coronavirus symptoms.

How have businesses reacted?


Belinda O'Donnell, owner of Penny Lane Vintage and The Furniture Shop in Cardiff, said the news was "devastating".

"I'm really shocked. It's disgusting really," she said. "I recently got Christmas stock in - we're not going to recoup the money lost. They should have stuck to the original plans because we were prepared for that.

"We were working so hard to work towards that date. We haven't had the flow of people through, so we're struggling anyway."


Queues formed outside shops in Talbot Green after the announcement on Saturday

Ian Price, CBI Wales director Ian Price said he was not surprised restrictions have been brought forward, "however painful they may be".

"Businesses know infection rates must be controlled to save lives and protect against longer-term economic scarring," he said.

"Nevertheless, invoking what is effectively a full lockdown at such a crucial time for many businesses - particularly those in the hardest-hit hospitality, retail and tourism sectors - will come as a fresh blow after many months of hardship and once again puts further jobs at risk."

Sara Jones of the Welsh Retail Consortium said it recognised the difficult decisions behind the announcement, but said the consequences would be severe.

"For businesses, the government's stop-start approach is deeply unhelpful - this decision comes in the middle of peak trading which so many are depending on to power their recovery," she said.

"Faced with this news - and the prospect of losing £100m per week in sales for the third time this year - many businesses will be in serious difficulty and many thousands of jobs could be at risk."


Mark Drakeford: New virus variant is "more aggressive, spreads more quickly and affects more people"


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×