Covid Indian variant: 'Difficult to hold the waters back' in Wales

Eluned Morgan: "No cases of the Indian variant leading to hospitalisation yet in Wales"

"It's going to be very difficult to hold the waters back" of an Indian variant of Covid-19 spreading from England to Wales, according to Health Minister Eluned Morgan.

She said there were currently no people in hospital as a result of the variant in Wales and no community spread.

But she said this was expected to change.  

The Welsh government said there were less than 100 cases of the variant of concern, with a cluster in Conwy.  

Baroness Morgan said the government had not seen community spread, with most of the cases coming as a result of travel abroad.

"We're likely to see that change in future weeks and I think it is going to be very difficult for us to hold the waters back from across England, so we've got to be ready for this," she told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme.

"There are no cases of the Indian variant leading to hospitalisation yet in Wales."

• What is the Indian variant?

• Vigilance urged in cluster of Covid variant cases

Up to three quarters of new UK Covid cases could be of the Indian variant, according to UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

A report by the Welsh government's Technical Advisory Group on 21 May said Indian variant VOC-21APRIL-02 (B.1.617.2) was present in at least 50 countries.

With the next three-week review of Wales' lockdown restrictions on Friday, Wales' health minister said the government would spend the next week analysing data to see if other rules could be eased but she did not think there would be movement on reopening nightclubs.

"We are very unlikely to see nightclubs open in the next review," the minister said. 

"I think we are very aware that that kind of mingling indoors at a time when we haven't got [vaccine] coverage for all those young people who might be attending is something for us to consider very carefully, so that's unlikely to happen. 

"But we do appreciate that young people have had a very tough time and those industries are very keen to get back and there are support packages in place to make sure they can make it through this crisis."

She urged people to continue to follow Covid guidelines.

"It is important that people recognise that we not out of this pandemic yet," she said.

"It is not going to be normal for many, many months."