Hospitality closures in Wales will be 'evidence-based', says first minister

Pubs and restaurants in Wales will only be closed if there is "evidence" they are linked to rising coronavirus cases, the Welsh first minister has said.

All bars and restaurants in central Scotland are being forced to shut from tonight while closures across the north of England are expected to be announced on Monday.

At a daily coronavirus briefing Mark Drakeford said "the evidence on the ground" was that a spike in cases in areas of Wales was "not being caused by hospitality businesses".

"The approach we're taking in Wales is to match the action to the source of the problem," he said.

"So if we were to see in Wales areas of coronavirus rising because those cases were traced to hospitality businesses and that was why numbers were rising, we would of course take action to deal with that.

"But it's really important that actions match the cause of the problem."

Pubs, restaurants and cafés in Wales currently have to stop serving alcohol at 10pm. Hospitality businesses in local lockdown areas are able to remain open, but guests are only allowed to eat indoors with members of their own household.

Health minister Vaughan Gething told BBC Radio Wales that the Welsh government has not ruled out further closures if they became necessary, but that such measures could cause "significant unemployment" without financial support from Westminster.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announced further financial measures for businesses forced to close in local lockdown areas later today.

Drakeford said he had been in discussions with the Treasury to ensure that money was available for all parts of the UK.

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