Wales’ 17-day firebrake lockout is over and new national measures to combat COVID-19 have taken effect.

The new national regulations include:

• Groups of up to four people from different homes can meet in cafes, pubs and restaurants
• Shops, gyms, hairdressers and places of worship may reopen
• Supermarkets may sell non-essential items
• If people are part of a “bubble” they can meet indoors with other household members
• The curfew will continue at 10pm on alcohol sales
• There are no restrictions on traveling to Wales, but people will be allowed to leave the country only for work reasons.
• Wearing two-meter community distance and masks in enclosed public places including public transport and taxis
• People have to work from home whenever they want
• Up to 15 people can participate in an organized indoor activity and up to 30 people can participate in an organized outdoor activity, providing all social distance, hand hygiene and other COVID-19 safety measures are followed
• All schools and annual groups will resume

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “We must all think about our own lives and what we can all do to keep our families safe. We must stop thinking about the maximum limit of rules and regulations.

“The corona virus is a highly contagious virus – it promotes communication between people.

“From today there will be a new national initiative that will follow all the hard work and sacrifices made during the fire.

“We can’t go back to the way we lived our lives and throw away all that hard work.”

The government says another 156 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number in the UK to 49,044.

As of 9 a.m. Sunday, there were 20,572 more laboratory-confirmed corona virus cases in the UK, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to 1,192,013.