The first minister says making changes to indoor rules on Monday was “a risk” he was not prepared to take
A decision on increasing the numbers able to meet indoors will not happen until at least late June
It comes amid "growing concern" over the variant first identified in India
Outdoor concerts, festivals and sporting events can resume in Wales from Monday
Extended households can also expand to include a third and up to 30 people will be able to meet outdoors, including in private gardens
Mark Drakeford says there is no need for a local lockdown in parts of Conwy county where a cluster of variant cases has been found
That's it from the BBC Wales live page for today. Thank you for joining us.
The main points:
The first minister said it is “very good news” that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine for children of secondary school age.
Mark Drakeford said the Welsh government will now wait for recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), before confirming how to proceed.
“We have already been in conversations with the sector on the best way we can do that (if the JCVI recommend vaccinations in secondary school age children)," he told the press conference.
“A lot of that will depend on timing on whether we can do it in the summer term or in the autumn."
He added schools already have a vaccination programme for flu vaccines in autumn and the government will “look to see if its possible to get some synergies with that vaccination programme.”
Plaid Cymru's Sioned Williams said businesses still need assistance while “the economic devastation of the pandemic remains”.
She said: “We welcome these changes today, but as things start to reopen we really need to make sure that our businesses, especially in the hospitality sector, have continuous and increased support”.
She said businesses needed help to “keep their heads above the water”.
Social distancing in Wales could continue for the rest of the year, Mark Drakeford has said.
The first minister said it remains one of the “strongest defences” against Covid.
He said: “I have been very struck by the way, as I go around Wales... people continue to be very careful about the way they behave when other people are around.
“I’m not certain myself there is a huge thirst for people to give up some of the safeguards, that we are all able to contribute in the way that we behave in our own lives.
“I think they will remain part of the repertoire here in Wales during the rest of the summer, and maybe into the rest of this year.
“Whether we will be able to move from them being mandatory to just [things] we advise people about and ask people to do in their own lives, that will depend on whether we continue to see improvements of the position here in Wales."
Image source, Getty ImagesNew Covid rules are coming to Wales from Monday.
The shift is part is part of a phased move to level one resrictions by the Welsh government.
The authorities are proceeding cautiously because of concerns about the Delta variant, which originated in India.
There are currently 97 cases in Wales, up 67% on last week.
The first minister says local health boards have the ability to "speed up" second doses of Covid-19 vaccines if needed to combat local clusters.
But Mark Drakeford said "the first vaccination is also very important" and it remains a priority to get all adults vaccinated with one dose.
He said once first doses were completed there would be additional resources to speed up second doses of the vaccine.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd says businesses will be concerned there were no announcements on financial support.
Andrew RT Davies said: "There’s £140m of unallocated money in the Welsh government’s coffers for business support but there was no mention of that.”
Image source, Getty ImagesThe first minister says there currently isn't a need to have local lockdowns in Conwy county's Covid hotspots.
Mark Drakeford said: "We don't think the current circumstances require them."
But he said local measures do "remain part of the potential repertoire".
The first minister said he can “understand and sympathise” with those planning weddings about the continued limitations on indoor gatherings.
"The science is improving on this issue," Mark Drakeford said.
"I received a presentation from our scientific advisers that drew evidence from across the world in the last 15 months.
"You are between 15 and 20 times more likely to catch coronavirus in indoor settings than outdoor settings."
"The distinction that we have made all the way through with outdoors being better than indoors has now been confirmed from data from around the world,” he said.
Restrictions on numbers indoors would be reviewed in the coming weeks, he said.
The first minister says moving Wales fully into alert level one on Monday is “a risk” he’s not prepared to take.
“The reason why it is not sensible to move wholesale on Monday into alert level one is the concern over the new variant," he said.
“While at the moment that it is not in large number in Wales and there isn’t community spread, I think it’s a risk that would not be sensible to take”.
He said a “a pause of two weeks” would allow more evidence to be gathered and reviewed, and let more people get vaccinated.
The "considerable majority" of the 97 identified cases of the Indian or Delta variant in Wales are from people who have not been vaccinated, according to the first minister.
But Mark Drakeford said some people who have caught the variant "have had vaccination in the past".
He added there was "no evidence in Wales so far" that the 97 cases have needed hospital treatment.
"Most of the clusters of the new variant are close-knit clusters where local public health teams are well on top of their contacts, have traced them and know what people are doing.
"The Conwy cluster is the largest cluster.
"We have had examples there of people contracting the virus in schools and in workplaces.
"There are up to 300 people self-isolating as a result, but we don't have definitive evidence that it is now at a community spread level," he said.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe largest cluster is in the Llandudno, Llandudno Junction and Penrhyn Bay area
Image source, Getty ImagesMark Drakeford said the variant was "a sharp reminder that the pandemic is not yet over and that coronavirus continues to be with us."
He said the best way for people to protect themselves was "to keep doing the things, which have kept us all safe for so long and helped to keep the virus under control in Wales."
"That means keeping your distance, washing your hands regularly, wearing a face covering in indoor public places, working from home whenever possible and keeping indoor spaces ventilated.
"It also means saying yes to vaccination – all the evidence we have so far says that two doses offers protection against this new variant," he said.
The first minister says the next set of decisions about relaxing restrictions on indoor events and activities will be made when there is more information about the Delta variant.
Mark Drakeford said: "This will also allow us to continue to focus our efforts on vaccinating people.
"By June 21, a further 90,000 people will have received their first dose of the vaccine and 180,000 more people will have completed their two-dose course.
Mark Drakeford confirmed the next stages of the easing of restrictions.
He said: “We have the headroom to move into alert level one as from Monday of next week.
“We will do this in a phased way, focusing on relaxing restrictions around outdoor events and activities first because the evidence suggests the risk of infection is between 15 and 20 times lower outdoors than it is indoors."
Mark Drakeford says the Welsh government is “carefully monitoring” the spread of the Indian, or Delta, variant in England and warns that Wales might “not be immune”.
The first minister said it had spread in many parts of England, despite the restrictions in place there.
“There are now more than 10,700 confirmed cases in England, largely linked to eight areas of the country, mainly in the north-west.
"There are a further 1,500 cases in Scotland.
“It has quickly become the dominant form the virus in new cases recorded in both Scotland and England.
“If that pattern continues, it is important to say to everybody here today, we will not be immune from it here in Wales.
“Already we have identified 97 cases in Wales and there will be more.
"Of those we know about, everyone has been tested, advised to isolate and their contacts traced.
“This includes a large cluster of cases in Conwy in north Wales, which is under close investigation," he said.
The variant, first detected in India, has been given the name Delta by the World Health Organization.
First Minister Mark Drakeford says coronavirus rates in Wales continue to be “very low”.
Mr Drakeford told the press conference: “In Wales today, the seven-day case rate continues to be very low at fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people and the positivity rate is also below 1%.”
He said he was glad to be able to confirm that there have been no new deaths recorded by Public Health Wales in the past nine days.
And he also said the number of people in hospital with coronavirus was at the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.
First Minister Mark Drakeford is starting today's briefing.
We'll tell you what he says here, along with reaction to the changes announced for Monday.
You can watch by following the link at the top of this page.
This map shows the latest Covid case rates for each local council area.
A total of 2,169,624 people have received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Wales.
That's 69% of the overall population.
The full course of two doses has now been given to 1,181,259 people - or 37% of the population - according to Public Health Wales.
No deaths with coronavirus have now been reported in Wales for the past nine days.
Public Health Wales figures show 71 new cases reported.