WALES will need to be cautious in its approach to phasing out of lockdown over the next few weeks, having learned lessons from other countries, says international relations minister Baroness Eluned Morgan.

Baroness Morgan was speaking at today’s daily coronavirus briefing, where she said the Welsh government is closely monitoring the impact of lifting the current measures ahead of tomorrow’s lockdown review.

She repeated throughout the briefing that she is, however, “intensely aware” of the trouble “sensitive sectors” such as tourism and hospitality now find themselves in.

“Coronavirus continues to pose a public threat, even in those parts of the world which have responded very successfully to that initial wave of infection,” she said, pointing to Japan and New Zealand as examples.

“We saw New Zealand almost eliminate the virus from their land by quarantining their airspace, but now we have seen new cases,” she said.

She said that evidence collected from the Welsh Government’s Technical Advisory Cell shows releasing lockdown in France has resulted in an increase in cases, while that has generally not been the case across Europe.

"The experience from Europe would tell us a cautious approach to further unlocking measures would be prudent," she said.

Baroness Morgan also said the Welsh government is “constantly talking” to other countries on how they are phasing out of lockdown, including the Basque region in Spain and Brittany in France.

READ MORE:

The Basque government had shared health and safety information on safe workplaces, while there has been correspondence with Brittany regarding how they are getting their tourism sector going again.

“We know that once the summer has gone [for tourism and hospitality] it has gone,” she said. “We will make the decisions based on the scientific evidence available to us.”

She reiterated that tourism will only open back up in Wales with the permission of Wales’ local communities.

Ahead of the Championship season kicking off again this weekend, albeit behind closed doors for social distancing reasons, she reminded football fans that they should not visit the stadiums.

"I know many sports fans have been eagerly awaiting the day when competitive football would return," she said.

"Fans are advised not to travel and stay away from football grounds – they certainly will not be admitted to matches."