Wales lifts ‘stay at home’ order and allows households to meet up in their gardens

Tennis and basketball courts and golf courses to reopen – and care home visits will restart

The Cardiff government is also expected to allow some tourist accommodation to open for Easter (PA)

Wales is lifting its “stay at home” order and allowing families and friends to meet up, including in their gardens, as it eases out of lockdown.

Some outdoor sports will also resume from Saturday – tennis and basketball courts and golf courses will reopen – and care home visits will restart, for single designated visitors.

Bookings at hairdressers and barbers will be allowed from Monday and, a week later, non-essential retail will begin re-opening, as will garden centres.

Mark Drakeford, the Labour first minister, is also expected to announce that some tourist accommodation will be allowed to open for Easter, having hinted at the move several times.

But team sports will remain banned – because a new limit of four people meeting up, from two households, will apply to sport as well – despite restarting in England from 29 March.

All primary pupils and those studying for crucial exams will return from Monday, with schools also allowed to bring in Year 10 and 12 students if they wish.

The “stay at home” requirement will be replaced with a “stay local” instruction, although the details have yet to be revealed.

“We are taking a phased approach to unlocking each sector – starting with schools,” Mr Drakeford will tell a press conference.

“We will make step-by-step changes each week to gradually restore freedoms. We will monitor each change we make, so we know what impact each change has had on Wales’ public health situation.”

The first minister will also announce a further £150m to support businesses hit by Covid-19 restrictions.

The cautious measures come amid growing tensions between Mr Drakeford and Boris Johnson, with Welsh criticism of the prime minister for moving too fast in lifting curbs.

The first minister said London’s plan to allow international holidays to resume from mid-May “fills me with horror”, suggesting some border restrictions should stay in place over the summer.

The second wave of coronavirus in Wales had been “very significantly driven by people coming back from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, bringing the virus with them”, he warned.

A TV documentary revealed Mr Drakeford branded Mr Johnson “really, really awful” over his response to the more aggressive variant of Covid-19 being found in December.

Mr Drakeford will also say that all students will return to schools and colleges after the Easter holidays, with further details of the lockdown-easing plan expected on Friday.

All shops, including all “close contact services”, will be able to open from 12 April – the same date as in England.