Covid: Wales' top doctor not ruling out future lockdowns

Wales' chief medical officer believes people would be willing to make "sacrifices" for another Covid lockdown if needed.

Dr Sir Frank Atherton said he "hopes" that lockdowns are a thing of the past.

But he said: "We never know what's around the corner, so always have to leave that open."

Wales has not had a stay-at-home lockdown since early 2021. Advice to go into lockdown during the first Omicron wave was not followed.

Almost all of Wales' Covid rules have since been scrapped, with only rules requiring people to wear masks in health and social care remaining.

A recent swab survey showed Covid infections remain high in Wales, with one in 13 people still estimated to have Covid in the week ending 9 April.

Speaking to the BBC Wales' Walescast, Dr Atherton said he anticipated current vaccines could be "re-engineered" to counter any new variants.

But Wales' top doctor said that he was confident that if another lockdown was needed, "people do behave well in Wales".

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Appointed as Wales' chief medical officer in 2016, Dr Frank Atherton says the last two years dealing with the pandemic have been "intense" and "all-consuming".

"A general public health principle and one that we followed for most of the pandemic is that you have to take people with you. You cannot just impose things.

"But there comes a time and we reached that point very early in the pandemic where we are in such an emergency position that you have to make some central decisions."

Frank Atherton (centre) is Wales' chief medical officer

Asked if he thought that coronavirus lockdowns were now a thing of the past, he said: "You can never guarantee anything in public health or in public life, but I would absolutely hope so".

"We do have vaccines now. I would anticipate that if a new variant comes along, we would be able to re-engineer those vaccines to develop something quickly which we can then provide to the population - but we just never know what's around the corner and so we always have to leave that open.

"If we did get to a position where significant numbers of people were really coming to serious harm I do believe that the Welsh population would be willing to make those sacrifices again.

"But I really hope we don't get to that position. But I think, you know, people do behave well in Wales, particularly."

Asked whether the right decision was made in closing nightclubs and curbing the number of people allowed to meet after Christmas 2021, Dr Atherton said he would have done the same again.

"We didn't really understand the Omicron variant and what the impact would be. We knew crowded environments would create superspreading events and we had always had a slightly more cautious approach in Wales than in the other nations.

"So knowing what I know now, there may have been a different decision, but at the rime, given what we knew, I think it was the right thing to do."

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