The coronavirus situation in Wales is “very difficult” but not out of control, according to Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford.
Drakeford defended his government’s decision to have a short lockdown of 17 days in the autumn.
He has faced accusations from the opposition of losing his grip on Covid.
It comes as Wales’ CMO says ministers are considering whether new measures might be needed before Christmas.
Chief Medical Officer Frank Atherton warned there was “serious pressure” on the NHS in the country, particularly in south Wales.
The government is already looking at what might be needed after the festive holiday, although the first minister had suggested on Tuesday that he would not impose new restrictions before Christmas.
As well as criticising the government’s performance the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru called on ministers to think again about a ban on alcohol in pubs and restaurants in a debate on Wednesday.
Health minister Vaughan Gething warned relaxing the measures would mean more people would die.
Drakeford has claimed that the recent rise in cases was partly due to people not being willing to follow the rules:
“It is partly because, despite the strict rules we have here, fatigue, people’s sense of no hope for the future has meant that not everybody has been willing to abide by the restrictions that are still necessary.
We have seen people having house parties, people inviting large numbers of people back to their own houses when that is absolutely not allowed within our rules.”
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
