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Welsh Government to hold discussions this week on rolling out Covid passes to hospitality

23 Nov 2021 2 minute read
Vaughan Gething picture by the Welsh Government.

The Economy Minister has said that the Welsh Government will hold further discussions this week about rolling the Covid pass out to hospitality.

He said that only a “vaccine busting variant” would lead to the kind of restrictions we saw last Christmas imposed again.

However, he warned that the NHS was under huge pressure, from Covid and the flu season.

“The modelling suggests that we may not need to have other restrictions in place, such as going up the alert levels,” he said.

“That is why we’re actively discussing whether we do need to roll out the Covid pass across hospitality.

“That’s is something we need to conclude in the near future to give certainty to the public and businesses.”

The First Minister Mark Drakeford said last week that Covid passes could be brought in for the hospitality sector over Christmas if cases rise over the coming weeks.

The next three-week review falls on December 10th and will take in the Christmas period and up until New Year’s eve.

Mark Drakeford said he would do “everything we can to keep Wales open and to keep Wales safe” including extending the passes to pubs and restaurants”.

“This means keeping the option of extending the use of the Covid Pass if cases rise again and pandemic pressures on the NHS increase, to help keep the hospitality sector open and trading through the busy festive period,” he said.

The Welsh Conservatives and Welsh Liberal Democrats have already called on the Welsh Government to rule out extending Covid passes.

They made their opposition known as the passes came into force for theatres, cinemas and concert halls on Monday.

Plaid Cymru, who have joined Labour in a cooperation agreement which is set to begin on 1 December, backed the last extension of the passes.


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