Thanks for being with us as we brought you the latest news as it happened from the Welsh government's Covid press briefing.

Here are some of the main points from today:

• A maximum of six people will be allowed to meet in pubs, cinemas and restaurants in Wales from 26 December
• Table service and contact tracing will be required at licensed premises to protect customers and staff
• Face coverings will be required in hospitality settings, apart from when seated
• Large events are forbidden - the maximum number of people who can gather at an indoor event will be 30 and 50 outdoors, although this excludes weddings, civil partnerships, funerals and wakes
• Spectators at community and junior sports matches will be limited to 50 people, but major sporting events must be held behind closed doors
• Close contacts of people who have Covid will no longer have to self-isolate provided they have been fully vaccinated

For all the latest on restrictions in Wales, click here.

Liz Loughlin, from Mold, in Flintshire, said she would be happy to ask her guests to take lateral-flow tests (LFTs) before they come to her home.

On the guidance, she said: “I will be following it.

“People will do what they want to do anyway. It’s just common sense really. You go with your own instinct.”

Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "I am in no doubt that the seriousness of the threat we face means we have to take firm action.

"It's a balance between those very, very firm actions and the need to look after people's wellbeing and the wellbeing of the economy."

He said the rules may have to be "firmed up" again in the new year and stressed the need to remain cautious.

"If nothing was done now, we'd be in real trouble in January," he added.

The Welsh government has outlined “five simple measures” for people visiting other people's homes.

They are:

1. Limit the number of people visiting your home
2. If people are visiting, make sure they take a lateral flow test before they come
3. Meeting outdoors is better than indoors. If you are meeting indoors make sure it is well ventilated
4. Space out any visits
5. Do not forget about social distancing and washing your hands

Leader of the Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies, has criticised the Welsh government's approach to announcing restrictions in a "drip, drip, drip" effect over the past week.

He said it makes it hard for people to "understand exactly their responsibility" when they "do want to adhere to the rules".

"I do take issue with the point the first minister addressed about the workplace fines where now you'll be able to go to the pub without a fine, but you'll get fined if you go into work," said Mr Davies.

But Mr Davies accepted people taking personal responsibility was how the country will overcome the virus.

Image source, Getty Images

There are 4,662 new cases of coronavirus today and three people have died, Public Health Wales (PHW) has reported.

It brings the total number of cases in Wales to 566,995, and the number of deaths reported by PHW to 6,525.

A PHW spokesman said today's case numbers were the highest reported in a 24-hour period - but added that because of the way the figures are collated, the data is provisional - and doesn't necessarily reflect the number of new cases today.

Read more about the Covid-19 situation in Wales by clicking here.

The first minister said he would see his children and their families on different days over Christmas because of coronavirus.

Mr Drakeford said they were following Welsh government advice to “space out” visits of friends and relatives.

“My own daughter will be coming with her family to see us and they’ll come on one day," he explained.

“My son and family will come, but they’ll come on a different day.

“You can have a good Christmas at the same time if you do things carefully.”

Simon Buckley, owner of Plas Hafod in Gwernymynydd, Mold, said the business had already been badly affected by the uncertainty surrounding Omicron.

His bookings for lunch today have dropped from 100 to 18, and suggested he may have to close in January after today's announcement.

“We’re still not getting cold hard advice about what if what to," said Mr Buckley.

"They’ve put the rule of six in - that’s going to affect us as we have families in and functions and birthday parties - it will hit our revenue."

He added: "We normally do 20 big functions but we’ve done three."

If new Covid rules reduce the number of cases, no new restrictions will be needed in the New Year, Mark Drakeford suggested.

“That’s why we’ve moved early, earlier than other parts of the United Kingdom,” he said.

“That’s why these changes kick in straight after Christmas, and if they have the intended effect it will mitigate the risk that we will need to do more.”

Mark Drakeford said his government regularly releases the scientific evidence on which its reviews of Covid-19 regulations in Wales are based.

He said decisions take into account advice from the Welsh government's own expert Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a report from Wales’ Chief Medical Officer, as well as information from SAGE, the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group.

"What we are seeing is... the number of new cases is accelerating every day, where the doubling time means those cases will be in thousands within a short number of days and where the impact on people becoming so ill to be in hospital is very significant indeed.

"I think the actions we have taken are proportionate to the risks we know are there."

Gareth Evans, manager at Baravin restaurant in Aberystwyth, said he was expecting some of the measures introduced today, but others would hit the business hard.

A maximum of six people will be allowed to meet in pubs and restaurants from 26 December, and people will be required to observe social distancing.

"The 2m rule is the one that is going to be crippling to us," said Mr Evans.

"This Christmas hasn’t been what it was meant to be with cancellations, and we are going to lose 24 seats with the 2m [rule] and these 24 seats are crucial for us as a business in quiet times.”

Advice has been given to limit household mixing and use lateral flow tests beforehand, with a specific offence for having gatherings of more than 30 people.

But a maximum of three households meeting at the same time would be a "rule of thumb" for people to follow, Mr Drakeford said.

"We will be relying on guidance for the way that people behave in their own private lives."

He said this was possible because of the booster and vaccination programme and the availability of lateral flow tests.

Image source, Getty Images

The re-introduction of fines for unnecessarily going in to work is designed to protect workers rather than punish them, the first minister said.

From Monday, workers could get a £60 fixed penalty notice and companies can be fined £1,000 every time they break the rules.

Until now there has just been guidance encouraging home working.

Mr Drakeford said: “They are not some new set of rules.

“They are designed to protect workers, not to punish them. When these same rules were there earlier in the pandemic, no fines were issued at all.”

The purpose of the rules are to give legal protection to workers who feel they are being unfairly forced to come in to work, he added.

The first minister repeated his calls for furlough arrangements to be put in place for the sectors most directly affected by restrictions.

He said the Welsh government "simply does not have the financial fire power" to help those who may not be able to work.

It would need the help of the UK government, he said.

“I joined my colleagues in Scotland and Northern Ireland in calling on the Treasury to put those furlough arrangements in place for the sectors that are most directly affected by the extra protections that will need to be there when they reopen after Christmas.”

Image source, gett

Mr Drakeford said £120m will be available for nightclubs, events, retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses affected by the move to Alert Level Two.

He said that is double the new funding of £60m announced last week.

There would be a specific offence for large gatherings in private homes, the first minister said.

Mark Drakeford said he wanted the measures announced today to be in place for the shortest possible time.

He said they will be kept “very regularly” under review.

Welsh coronavirus rules are usually reviewed every three weeks, but that has since changed to weekly.

Mark Drakeford said the cabinet had decided not to make new legal rules on indoor mixing, but said there would be updated guidance.

“We are doing this because we are in a different position this year than the position we faced the last time we saw coronavirus rise in this way,” he said, citing lateral-flow tests and vaccines.

“We have all learned a great deal about how we can best protect ourselves and others."