Up to six people from different households are now able to meet indoors at pubs, cafes and restaurants in Wales.
As Wales’ Covid case rate continues to fall and vaccination rates remain the best in the UK, indoor hospitality can reopen from today. Businesses will have to provide table service and the rule of six is still in place.
Many restaurant owners have made great effort to keep their staff and customers happy and safe. Restaurant Henry’s has been open since 1988. After seven months’ closed, their Deputy manager Katie Mulcahy said they are excited to come back and welcome customers to dine indoors. “Customers are encouraged to pre-book through our website and they need to follow social distance and other government guidelines,” she added.
The easing of the rules was announced officially by First Minister Mark Drakeford last Friday.
Mr Drakeford said the Welsh government would maintain its “cautious” approach to lockdown easing: “Thanks to everyone’s hard work and ongoing efforts, we can take another step towards relaxing the coronavirus restrictions. But the pandemic isn’t over – the new, so-called Indian variant of concern is another unwanted twist in this pandemic, which we are monitoring closely.”
Alert level two includes the following changes:
- Indoor hospitality can reopen;
- Entertainment venues can open, including cinemas, theatres, amusement arcades, etc.
- Indoor visitor attractions can open, including museums, galleries and heritage attractions.
- Up to 30 people can attend an organised indoor event and up to 50 people can attend an organised outdoor event, including wedding reception and wake.