First Minister Mark Drakeford lays out plans to ease lockdown but warns 'third wave very likely'
Watch the Welsh Government's coronavirus briefing
A third wave of coronavirus could hit Wales in the future, leading to further lockdowns, the First Minister has warned.
It comes as Mark Drakeford laid out plans for a further easing of lockdown restrictions with non-essential retail beginning to open from next week.
But during Friday's press conference, he warned about the possibility of further restrictions and said he was "concerned" to see reports of a third wave of coronavirus hitting France.
Speaking at the Welsh Government's last coronavirus briefing before the Senedd election, the FM said plans to reopen historic sites and gardens were also under review. A final decision on that is expected next week.
Plans are still in place to lift stay local restrictions from March 27 provided cases continue to fall.
Mark Drakeford said: ''If conditions remain positive, on March 27 we will lift stay local and begin the process of re-opening our tourism sector, starting with self-contained accommodation and organised outdoor children’s activities for the Easter holidays.''
The first minister said plans to reopen tourism in Wales will be confirmed next week.
The Welsh Government have also published an updated Coronavirus Control Plan, setting out how Wales will move through the alert levels.
He said it is a plan to ''help us lift restrictions further, provided the virus remains under control.''
Asked about the possibility of a third wave in Wales, Mark Drakeford said it is something that is ''very likely'' to happen.
He said: ''The question is not whether it will happen, it's how it will happen and how we will deal with it.''
''There are new tools available to us, particularly vaccination, that combined with people continuing to do all the things that we've learnt to do, the social distancing, the hand washing and so on, that we would be able to cope with a third wave in a way that does not have the same impact as the second wave that we saw during the autumn and winter.
''Not having the same effect on our hospitals, not having the same effect on people falling ill. We continue to think about that and prepare for it.''