The Welsh Government ''would not be afraid'' to issue another coronavirus lockdown, Health Minister Vaughan Gething says

The Welsh Government ''would not be afraid'' to issue another lockdown, Health Minister Vaughan Gething has said.

Speaking to ITV Wales, he said: ''I certainly wouldn't be afraid to make a decision with the first minister and the Welsh Government to lockdown if we thought that was the right thing to do to save lives.

''The risks are still here and we need to manage those risks as we go into the autumn, and winter in particular.''

It comes after the prime minister said he thinks the UK will not need another national lockdown.

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Boris Johnson said: “I can’t abandon that tool any more than I would abandon a nuclear deterrent. But it is like a nuclear deterrent, I certainly don’t want to use it. And nor do I think we will be in that position again.”

Gething critcised the prime minister's comments about a ''return to normality'' by Christmas, saying there was ''a danger in having too optimistic an outlook.''

Gething said: ''I thought the over optimistic messaging from the prime minister was quite unhelpful because we'll need to do as much as we can at this point in the year as safely as we can.

''As well as normal winter pressures, we could well see a return of coronavirus, as we've seen in Melbourne, in Australia, and in many other parts of the world too.

''So it's a real concern, not a fanciful one.''