Covid: Llanelli in local lockdown after coronavirus spike

Llanelli is the first town in Wales being put under a lockdown without the rest of its county

Wales' first town-only lockdown has come into force.

Llanelli in Carmarthenshire had restrictions imposed from 18:00 BST on Saturday, making it the first town hit with restrictions which do not apply to the rest of the surrounding county.

Wales' two biggest cities - Cardiff and Swansea - will follow suit on Sunday evening following Covid-19 spikes.

Llanelli MP Nia Griffith said lockdown would be "a tricky time... but it's better to do it sooner than later".

"What we don't want is to leave things too late and then wish we'd done more," she said.

"It will impact on different people in different ways but the general feeling is we that need to get on top of this."

Wales' Health Minister Vaughan Gething told BBC Breakfast on Saturday the situation was "very serious" and comparable with cases in February.

"We ended large parts of NHS activity about two weeks later. We had a full lockdown three-and-a-bit weeks later," he said.

People in 13 ward areas in Llanelli cannot now leave town, or mix indoors with anyone outside their own household.

The town has seen 85 coronavirus cases over the past week - compared to 24 across the rest of Carmarthenshire.

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Carmarthenshire council leader Emlyn Dole said it was "worrying to see how sharply the number of positive cases has risen in the Llanelli area".

"Action has had to be taken to help stop the spread and break the chain of infections concentrated in this area to prevent a whole county lockdown," he said.

Mr Dole told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast he thought the spike in cases was down to pubs and bars not "paying as much heed to the restrictions as the rest of us" in terms of social distancing.

The rate of infection across Llanelli has leapt to 152 cases per 100,000 of the population - it is just 18 per 100,000 for the rest of Carmarthenshire.

It places the town in the top three weekly infections rates across Wales, alongside Blaenau Gwent on 202 per 100,000 and Merthyr Tydfil at 169 per 100,000.

Maria Battle, who chairs the Hywel Dda University Health Board serving south west Wales, said: "Our local community has given us such tremendous support during the past few months.

"To protect the health of our people, including the most vulnerable, and to ensure our NHS resources are available to provide people with the care they need, we need the help of our Llanelli population and wider community now more than ever before."

There will be nine areas of Wales under restrictions

Extra testing capacity is being introduced, with appointments at Parc y Scarlets, Ty'r Nant at Trostre, and the Carmarthen showground.

Health officials said there should be "no reason for Llanelli residents to travel excessive distances for a test".

Cardiff and Swansea go into lockdown from 18:00 BST on Sunday.

Swansea hit a seven-day rate of 56 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 on Friday, while Cardiff reached 38 cases per 100,000.

First Minister Mark Drakeford urged people to behave as if the new restrictions were already in place, but told LBC that arrest by the police was a last resort.

"If there are people who clearly deliberately flout the law you have to enforce," he said.

"Yes, with fines if necessary. But for us that's the last resort, not the first resort.

"In Caerphilly [the first area in Wales to face local lockdown] we have had very, very good levels of co-operation.

"My experience is people are wanting to do the right thing."

Cardiff Central Labour MP Jo Stevens also warned residents: "Don't take this weekend to go on a massive bender.

"It's not going to be helpful," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"If people do that this weekend, it does risk further infection rates and that means we'll be in local lockdown for longer."

Thomas Beynon, manager at Three Cliffs Bay Holiday Park, Gower, said he was expecting to cancel about 380 bookings before the season ends in November due to the new lockdown in Swansea.

He said it was "hugely deflating" and meant "strange times again" after the business was hit by the national lockdown earlier this year.

Mr Beynon said customers had been "very supportive" by transferring bookings to next year rather than cancelling and seeking a refund.

"We are extremely humbled," he said.