Four more areas in Wales are going to be placed under a local lockdown from 6pm tomorrow.
Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport and Blaenau Gwent will face tougher restrictions after a « worrying and rapid rise » in coronavirus infections.
The rules will prevent people from entering or leaving these areas without a reasonable excuse. Gatherings will only allowed outdoors – and indoor meetings of extended families will be prohibited.
Health minister Vaughan Gething said many cases had been linked to people socialising indoors without physical distancing.
« It’s always a difficult decision to introduce restrictions but coronavirus has not gone away – it is still circulating in communities across Wales and, as we are seeing in parts of South Wales, small clusters can quickly cause real issues in local communities, » he said.
It came after Nicola Sturgeon said she expects more restrictions to be put in place in Scotland this week – with or without four-nation alignment. Northern Ireland has since announced an extension of restrictions there.
And Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance earlier announced that there could be 49,000 new cases of coronavirus a day by mid-October unless infection rates slow down.
An urgent meeting of all local authorities, health boards and police forces from Bridgend to the English border will take place with the Welsh government on Tuesday.
This is to discuss « the wider situation in South Wales and whether further measures are needed across the region, » the government said.
© 2020 Sky UK
