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Wales’ Health Minister says the ‘last thing we want to do is cancel Christmas – but nothing is off the table’

14 Dec 2021 2 minute read
Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

Wales’ Health Minister has said that the “last thing we want to do is cancel Christmas – but we’re not taking anything off the table either”.

Speaking at a Welsh Government press conference Eluned Morgan said that they have “no idea what Christmas will look like” due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

She added that they “needed to take people with us” and that ultimately the matter was “in the hands of the people of Wales”, urging people to “look at the example of Mark Drakeford rather than that of Boris Johnson”.

“I would ask people to retain their faith in the First Minister as he navigates us through a difficult time,” she said.

It was announced yesterday that there are Omicron cases in all parts of Wales, and that the Welsh Government will conduct another Covid restrictions review on Friday.

“It’s likely that more restrictions will be introduced at the next review,” Eluned Morgan said.

“If we were in a situation where there are still 30 Omicron cases in Wales at Christmas it wouldn’t be a problem, but I doubt that will be the case.

“The last thing we want to do is cancel Christmas – but we’re not taking anything off the table either.”

She added that the Welsh Government’s decisions weren’t just about weighing the harms of Omicron as there were “economic and mental health harms to consider alongside this”.

“I’m afraid I can’t be more definitive about what Christmas is going to look like while we’re in this situation,” she said.

“At the very least we will be asking people to take Lateral Flow Tests before they meet at Christmas.”

Yesterday saw the announcement of 15 known new cases of Omicron variant in Wales, and scientists are expecting the numbers to double every two to three days.


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