A school has been forced to temporarily close because so many of its staff are self-isolating.

Ystruth Primary School in Blaina, Blaenau Gwent, closed its doors on Tuesday for the next two weeks.

Blaenau Gwent council confirmed there have been two positive cases within the school.

However, it added, the closure was due to the lack of available staff and not because of cases identified within the school itself.

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Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

It's not a day for optimists, even though the prime minister himself is one of that tribe.

Tomorrow, it will be six months exactly since he told the nation to stay at home.

This time, Boris Johnson stopped well short of slamming the country's doors shut.

But what really stood out in his long statement in a miserable-looking Commons was his message that the limits put in place today will last another six months.

Read more from Laura Kuenssberg

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The governor of the Bank of England has called for the UK government to "stop and rethink" the furlough scheme.

The Job Retention Scheme under which the Treasury paid most of the wages of staff sent home by employers during the pandemic is due to finish at the end of next month.

But speaking on a webinar hosted by the British Chambers of Commerce, Andrew Bailey suggested some sectors may benefit from further targeted help.

In August, Mr Bailey told the BBC he backed ending the current scheme, saying workers should be helped to move rather than stay in unproductive jobs.

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The prime minister has pledged to look into claims that people living in local lockdowns are unable to claim holiday refunds because they are unable to travel.

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney MP Gerald Jones raised the issue with Boris Johnson in Parliament on Tuesday.

Mr Jones said: "Some holiday companies are refusing refunds on the grounds that local restrictions are not covered by UK law.

"What can the prime minister do to support constituents in this case and what is his message to those holiday companies?"

Mr Johnson said he was not aware of the "anomaly" and he asked Mr Jones to provide further details so he could "take it up".

Merthyr Tydfil is one of four council areas of Wales about to go into local lockdown at 18:00 BST, while Rhymney is already subject to the restrictions covering Caerphilly county borough.

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The Welsh Government is considering whether to force pubs in Wales to shut at 10pm, Health Minister Vaughan Gething has said.

The UK government is to force pubs to shut at 10pm in England from Thursday. Pubs in local lockdown areas of Wales currently have to shut at 11pm but there are no curfews in other areas.

“We’re considering whether to move to ten o’clock,” Mr Gething told the Welsh Parliament sitting in Cardiff Bay.

“There’s something about consistency there that may help with the message”.

He said the Welsh Government is also considering whether to ask pubs to only provide table service, as the UK government is asking pubs in England.

“There are different ways to move before getting to the point of entirely closing pubs," he added.

"If we did do that, we can be confident we’ll displace some drinking activity into people's homes, which as we know is where the most significant vectors of spreading the virus have taken place.”

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Twelve students from Swansea University have tested positive for Covid-19, according to the institution.

It said its immediate concerns were for the affected students, their families and the "wellbeing of our wider university community".

Public health officials were following a track-and-trace strategy and had pledged to keep the university informed, it added.

"We understand that there will be anxiety about this development but can assure students, staff, visitors and the wider community that their safety is our top priority," said a university statement, external.

A Covid-19 testing centre for residents in Caerphilly has been extended until Monday, according to health officials

Eleven more people tested positive in the county borough on Tuesday, a marked decrease in cases in recent weeks.

Caerphilly became the first council area in Wales to go into local lockdown with 119.3 cases per 100,000 at its height, compared with 38.7 in the past week.

Testing will continue at Caerphilly Leisure Centre, the Aneurin Bevan health board said.

There have been cases of Covid in 275 schools in Wales since 1 September, the first minister has told the Senedd.

Mark Drakeford said 198 of the 275 schools affected reported just a single case each.

So far, those cases have been imported into school, rather than people catching the virus on the premises.

The Welsh Ambulance Service is calling on people to follow social-distancing rules and hand hygiene to "get this virus under control" and "avoid greater restrictive measures".

First Minister Mark Drakeford has defended his health minister for not ruling out compulsory coronavirus vaccinations in Wales.

Vaughan Gething told ITV Wales' Sharp End programme on Monday: "I wouldn't rule out anything at this point but [making it mandatory] is at the most extreme end and the most unlikely.

"But I don't think it's sensible for any politician to rule out possible options, because we can't tell where we're going to be in a month, let alone in six months or a year."

In Tuesday's First Minister's Questions, Conservative Senedd member Suzy Davies said it was a "completely Orwellian statement, a real attack on personal freedoms".

Brexit Party group leader Mark Reckless said a "programme of forced injections would break international law".

Responding, the first minister said Mr Gething had been asked on the programme "would he rule something out - he simply said that he wouldn't".

"It went no further than that, there's no implication in what he said that he had made a decision of any sort," said Mr Drakeford.

First Minister Mark Drakeford has called for people in Wales to minimise travel ahead of an announcement of further restrictions expected later.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price asked what consideration had been given to a ban on non-essential travel from lockdown areas, and the rest of the UK into Wales.

“I will want to say something later today about trying to encourage people in Wales, only to make those journeys that are really necessary,” the first minister said.

“I think every one of us should be asking ourselves – ‘is that journey really essential?’

“Because the fewer people you meet, the fewer journeys you make, the less danger you are posing to yourself and others.

“I think that has a message to people everywhere, about minimising travel and staying close to home as much as you are able to.”

Areas under local lockdown are already subject to travel restrictions.

Public Health Wales figures show 281 new confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Of the cases, 77 were in Rhondda Cynon Taff, 34 were in Bridgend and 30 in Cardiff.

Swansea reported 28 cases and Merthyr Tydfil had 20.

There were encouraging signs for Caerphilly, which on Tuesday has seen its cases drop to 11, two weeks after it went into Wales' first local lockdown.

Restrictions to tackle Covid-19 might need to be in place “for a significant length of time”, Welsh Government scientific advisers have said.

It takes time to establish whether so-called non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) stop the virus spreading, according to the Technical Advisory Cell.

“Some NPIs may need to be in place for a significant length of time, though an earlier and more comprehensive response is likely to reduce the length of time for which they are required," it said in a new report.

Although the number of cases is rising in Wales, the number of deaths has not shown a significant change.

There were no new deaths reported on Tuesday.

However, the authorities are warning that this could change quite dramatically if people do not follow the measures being reintroduced to slow the spread of the virus.

The number of deaths with laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 has remained unchanged on Tuesday, at 1,603.

A further 281 cases of coronavirus have been reported to Public Health Wales.

There are no further deaths, meaning the total deaths remains at 1,603.

The total cases now stands at 21,159.

Unlike Valerie Woodall, others in the Swansea area have found their services in demand as the possibility of a local lockdown looms.

Fishmonger Michael Greene, of Mumbles, said: "It does keep us busy, a lockdown is good and bad for us at the same time."

Sarah Davies, a shop manager at Port Tennant, said: "The shops have managed the queues outside quite well.

"The restrictions have been put in place quite well... in the area we've managed to stay relatively consistent."

Swansea is one of eight counties on a watch list as the rise in Covid cases puts an additional four areas into local lockdown from Tuesday evening.

Valerie Woodall, 74, who owns the Fairytale of Mumbles shop, reopened last Monday after being shut for six months.

However, with Swansea being monitored for further potential measures, she is not sure what the future holds.

"I don't know what it'll be like in a few weeks' time... possibly I might close again," she said.

"I tried to be quite positive about it. I think it's very sad for the young people and it's very hard for people who are on their own."

Visitors who had arranged to attend a now-cancelled Elvis Presley festival have been warned they will be breaking the law if they still turn up.

The annual event is held in Porthcawl, in Bridgend county borough, which will go into a local lockdown at 18:00 BST on Tuesday.

The Elvis Festival, which had been due to be held this weekend, usually attracts about 35,000 fans and 100 impersonators.

But it was scrapped this year because of coronavirus, with people who had booked accommodation warned they could not visit the borough.

Bridgend council leader Huw David said: "There will be no Elvis here meeting them.

"They will be met by the South Wales Police force and action will be taken against people who break the law."

So far, it is south Wales that has been hit hardest by a rise in a cases, and subsequent local lockdowns.

But as this graph shows, numbers are rising in the north as well, with Anglesey and Denbighshire showing a sustained upward trajectory in recent days.

Together with Conwy and Flintshire, they are on the Welsh Government's watch list as candidates for the next local lockdowns.