“Long goodbye” to Covid-19 as return to conditions last summer could be ‘platform’ to build upon

The First Minister is looking to how conditions were in summer 2020 as a goal for this year, to then build on as we say a ‘long goodbye’ the pandemic.

The current level four restrictions have been in place since December 20 with a strict “stay at home” message in place.

Asked at today’s Welsh Government briefing when he believes life can start to return to normal, First Minister Mark Drakeford said he hopes that Wales will soon be able to return to a position similar to last summer.

This included travel, hospitality and retail being open and holidays – although social distancing, mask wearing and other pandemic mitigations were in place.

He added that this would provide a “platform” to ease measures further provided that cases do not increase.

Mr Drakeford said: “I’m certainly not going to look ahead for years to come, it’s difficult enough thinking of the next three weeks.

“But what I would like us to be able to get back to in Wales – and more quickly than we were able to last year – is the way things were last summer.

“So last summer, we were still social distancing, we were still being asked to wear masks on public transport and in crowded places, but we were able to travel, restaurants were open and people could go on holiday.

“Coronavirus is going to be with us for months to come, it’s going to be as, somebody said to me recently a long goodbye. Even when it’s in the rearview mirror, we will need to go on being careful about the way that we live our daily lives.

“But if we could get back to the way that things were back in July and August of last year, if we could get to there more quickly than we were able to do it last year, I think people will notice the difference very significantly in their lives and will be prepared to go on doing the small things that we all can do because they do make cumulatively a real difference, while allowing us to reopened those parts of life that matter so much to us.”

Pressed on whether measures similar to last summer, with no crowds and football and limits on hospitality could be in place for the foreseeable future, Mr Drakeford said that in the “first instance” a return to last summer would provide more freedoms than what people currently have.

However even getting to a point depends on the scale of the vaccine rollout, pressure on the NHS and a drop in cases and deaths, said the first minister.

He said: “In the first instance if we could get to where things were last summer and get to them earlier in the year, that would be a significant achievement and that people would notice real differences in their lives.”

“At the moment, we can’t travel, we were able to travel then. Now, we’re not able to meet people beyond our own household, we were able to do that then. We can’t go on holiday at the moment, we could do it then.

“Life was significantly different and if we could get back to that, that’s not where it ends of course, but that would be where I thought the new normal was heading. If we could get to that I think people would notice the difference.

“That will give us a platform to move on from provided things continue to improve, to restore other freedoms and other important things that of course, I know people miss every day.”

Top pic: Summer 2018 in town, hopefully to be seen again soon.