Wednesday, 21 October 2020
All areas of Wales will enter a 17-day ‘firebreak’ lockdown at 6:00pm on Friday 23 October which is due to end on Monday 9 November.
The GOV.wales website states the firebreak lockdown restrictions as:
• People must stay at home, except for very limited purposes, such as for exercise.
• People must work from home wherever possible.
• People must not visit other households or meet other people they do not live with either indoors and outdoors.
• No gatherings will be allowed outdoors, such as Halloween or fireworks/Bonfire Night or other organised activities.
• All non-food retail, hospitality businesses, including cafes, restaurants and pubs (unless they provide take-away or delivery services), close contact services, such as hairdressers and beauticians, and events and tourism businesses, such as hotels, must close.
• Community centres, libraries and recycling centres will be required to close.
• Face coverings must be worn in indoor public spaces, which remain open, including on public transport and in taxis.
For equestrians, horse owners/grooms/carers may travel to attend to their horses on welfare grounds but you’re encouraged to work on a buddy system to reduce numbers meeting and journeys made.
Sport Wales have issued their ‘rules for sport and exercise’:
• Exercise should be undertaken locally – from home or as close as possible to the home. In general this should not involve people driving to a location away from home for this purpose.
For those with horses, this means that, on welfare grounds, horses should be exercised within the confines of the premise where they are kept where possible. If the rider has to travel to the yard, the exercise should be done in that visit to avoid multiple trips.
• All organised sport and facilities will be paused during the Welsh circuit breaker, including golf and tennis clubs.
This means the riding and competition centres should not be open for the 17 days of the lockdown.
• You can leave home as often as you like to exercise as long as you do so from home and alone or with members of your household (and/or a carer).
Riding, vaulting and driving are all permitted as exercise but must be done within the restrictions laid out. Participants are asked not to take excessive risk so as not to put additional burden on the health services during this crucial period.
For businesses affected by the lockdown, the Welsh Government has created an extra Economic Resilience Fund of almost £300 million and an extra £150 million is being put into Phase 3 of the ERF.
Every business covered by the small business rate relief will get a £1,000 payment while SME retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses will receive a one off payment of up to £5,000. Funds will open in the first week of the fire breaker. All businesses required to close will also be able to access the support available through the UK Government.
Facilities, Sign up to the Sport Wales mailing list to make sure you receive the latest updates, particularly on additional funding.
Helpful links: