A ban on travelling to Wales from coronavirus hotspots elsewhere in the UK comes into

effect on Friday evening.

First Minister Mark Drakeford asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson twice to stop people
in areas of England with high coronavirus rates from travelling.
But after receiving no reply, the first minister used devolved powers to shut Wales'
borders to people from hotspots.
The ban will cover all of Northern Ireland, England's tier two and three areas and the
Scottish central belt.
The UK government's Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said the decision risks "stirring
division and confusion", but Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she fully
supported Mr Drakeford's move.
There was a warning from the head of the Police Federation in Wales that the rules
could be "unenforceable".
The first minister said the police will have extra patrols on main roads into Wales.
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Alun Michael, the police and crime commissioner for South Wales Police, said officers
would ask the public to "use common sense".
"It obviously makes no sense for people who are in high infection areas to travel into
Wales into lower infection areas," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Friday.
"We are seeing right across the UK the figures going up. It's very clear, that has been
predicted, we've got a very challenging period coming up and obeying the rules is
absolutely crucial.
"This is a public health emergency. We need to be driven by public health decision-
making."
Mr Michael, who was the first Labour leader of the Welsh Government, added: "We
really need the UK government to be giving out the same messages about not travelling
that have come very clearly from the Welsh Government."
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES
image captionPolice forces in Wales are already responsible for enforcing travel rules in
local lockdown areas
As is the case within Wales, there are reasonable excuses for travelling in and out of
locked down areas, including to go to work, school and to provide care.
Announcing the ban, Mr Drakeford said: "Evidence from public health professionals
suggests coronavirus is moving from east to west across the UK and across Wales.
"As a general rule, it is concentrating in urban areas and then spreading to more
sparsely populated areas as a result of people travelling."
Mr Drakeford said the law will be "essentially designed to prevent people going to those
holiday parts of Wales, the far west and the far southwest of Wales, where the virus is
still in very low circulation".
The rules come into force at 18:00 BST.
Can I travel to Wales?
Travel to and from the 17 local lockdown areas in Wales - covering most of the
population - is already restricted.
People can already only travel to places like Cardiff or Swansea if they have a
reasonable excuse like work or education.
But travel is possible between areas that are subject to restrictions in England and the
parts of Wales not under lockdown rules, such as Powys, Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd
(apart from Bangor).
The Welsh Government's plans would effectively restrict travel to those places, and also
cover anyone from a low-Covid area of Wales travelling to high-Covid areas elsewhere
who then return to Wales.
Similar exemptions will apply to those that exist for Welsh local lockdown areas.
media captionPrime Minister Boris Johnson says people should use their common
sense when travelling around the UK.
Responding to the ban, the UK government said: "It is clear that this virus does not
respect geography and any new local spikes need all levels of government to work
together.
"We've been working closely with the devolved administrations to support communities
and businesses and it is disappointing that they have chosen to act unilaterally rather
than collaborating with other parts of the UK.
"It is important that people follow their devolved administration's local guidance.
"From the outset, our guidance has also been very clear that people from very high
prevalence areas should avoid travelling in or out of that area."
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Related Topics
 Coronavirus lockdown measures
 Coronavirus pandemic
 Welsh government

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