Coronavirus: Welsh first minister says UK nations must work together ahead of Christmas

Mark Drakeford says Wales would continue with a national rather than local response to Covid-19 restrictions

As Christmas nears, the UK must align their approaches to tackling the pandemic, the Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford has said.

Calling on the government to fulfil its promise for the four nations to meet and discuss a single approach, the Welsh first minister said cabinet office minister Michael Gove assured him there would be a meeting this coming week so country leaders can “pool ideas, plan together and have a common approach to the Christmas period".

Mr Drakeford spoke as Wales comes to the end of a 17-day firebreak lockdown on Monday.

England remains in a national lockdown which is due to end on 2 December, while Boris Johnson has said he is hoping for “as normal a Christmas as possible".

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophie Ridge On Sunday programme, Mr Drakeford said: “I really hope that meeting materialises.”

He added: “The restrictions people have had to live with are incredibly difficult and demanding, and everybody is tired and fatigued of coronavirus. If we can offer respite over Christmas that is what we would want to do.”

Emphasising the importance of the four nations meeting to discuss an approach, the first minister said: “I really hope the UK government is serious about this and make certain that those opportunities exist for us all.”

With the Welsh lockdown coming to an end, Mr Drakeford said people's behaviour over the next few weeks would decide whether another lockdown will be necessary or not.

The first minister added that progress made from the firebreak “will give us a path through to Christmas without needing to go back into this extraordinary period of restriction” in the country.

People should be asking themselves “not what I can do [or] how far can I stretch the rules, but what should I do, what should I do to keep myself and other people safe", he said.

Mr Drakeford also clarified that Wales would continue to implement national restrictions rather than local measures.

“We are going to have a new set of national rules that are clearer and I hope simpler and therefore easier to follow,” he said.

Despite the firebreak, the numbers of coronavirus cases in Wales remain high, particularly in south Wales valleys.

On Saturday, 32 people died with coronavirus in Wales and more than 950 new positive cases were reported

Earlier this week, Mr Drakeford said the restrictions had “arrested the speed” of cases and had made “real and positive difference".

Speaking on Sunday, he said the impact of the restrictions should be seen more clearly in the next few weeks.

"That is when we hope to see numbers declining, that is when we expect the number of people going into our hospitals to begin to go into reverse," Mr Drakeford said.

After a virtual meeting of the British-Irish Council on Friday, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister said that different approaches to tackling coronavirus “across the islands” were “really unhelpful".

Michelle O'Neill said the four nations approaches “must be aligned” if they are to be effective.