Why this is likely to be the last week of Covid restrictions in Wales

Mark Drakeford and his cabinet will be meeting this week to decide whether or not to bring to an end all the Covid restrictions that remain in place here in Wales.

It’s a significant moment in the handling of the pandemic, two years on from the announcement of the first UK-wide lockdown.

If ministers agree to stick to their timetable, it will mean that from Monday March 28, there will be no legal requirement to wear face coverings in shops and on public transport nor to self-isolate if you test positive.

Since that first lockdown, the Welsh Government has been legally obliged to review its Covid rules every week. Thursday of this week (March 24) will see the last of those three-weekly reviews.

Elsewhere in the UK, restrictions came to an end in England on February 24 and from April 1, lateral flow tests will no longer be free to all.

Scotland has today (March 21) lifted all of its restrictions but face coverings will still be compulsory on public transport and in some indoor settings, likely until the first week of April.

So what could Mark Drakeford and his cabinet decide to do this week?

On March 4, he said that “all legal measures could be removed from March 28 if the public health situation remains stable."

I understand that the situation is considered stable despite increases in the number of Covid cases. Instead officials are monitoring the numbers of those hospitalised with Covid and the number of deaths from Covid.

Assuming that the Welsh Government sticks the timetable set out above, the remaining legal requirements to be removed are:

• Face coverings. All adults and children over 11 must wear face coverings unless exempt on public transport, in indoor shops and health care settings.

• Self-isolation. If you test positive you must self-isolate for a full 5 days

• Businesses, employers and other organisations must carry out a specific coronavirus risk assessment and take reasonable measures to minimise exposure.

In order to lift those final restrictions, the Welsh Government will remove the legal requirements from Welsh legislation by the end of March and allow devolved parts of UK legislation to lapse on March 24.

You may have become used to picking up free lateral flow tests (LFTs) from your pharmacist or ordering them online. That will gradually come to an end as free, mass testing will be phased out between the end of March and June to be replaced by targeted testing.

If the Welsh Government goes ahead with its plan, from Monday March 28, it will take a new approach to the pandemic:

• Support and encourage people to maintain behaviours to help reduce transmission of all respiratory infections (such as wearing face-coverings, use social-distancing and self-isolate where necessary)

• Vaccination boosters in the spring for elderly and the most vulnerable adults

• Regular Covid-19 vaccinations from the autumn.

• Test, trace, protect programme gradually moves to a more targeted approach aimed at vulnerable people

• Adapt public services including using local risk assessments and outbreak control plans

• Businesses and other employers to build on the elements of infection control they have put in place to protect staff and customers.

If the rules and laws are lifted, there will from Monday March 28 be the following advice to all of us:

• Get vaccinated and stay up to date with vaccinations

• Follow the latest advice on testing and self-isolation

• Stay at home if you can when you're ill. If you have symptoms but have to leave home, wear a face covering indoors

• Meet outdoors where possible and ensure good ventilation if indoors

• Take extra precautions when visiting vulnerable people and avoid meeting them if can if you have symptoms

• Wash your hands regularly, cover coughs and sneezes and wear face coverings in close contact

The Welsh Government's long-term plan also includes contingency measures to switch quickly back to an emergency response if the situation were to change.

Medical and scientific experts have repeatedly said that the pandemic is not over, Covid is still with us and could still cause us problems.

But increased understanding of the virus and the vaccination programme mean that the situation is markedly different to that which faced us all in March 2020.

Politicians keep saying that we have to learn to live with Covid but it’s not been clear what that means. Now we’ll find out.