'Behave' plea to people of Wales to help NHS in Covid winter

Asked at a coronavirus briefing whether Wales is in the peak of the coronavirus surge or if there is worse to come, minister for mental health, wellbeing and the Welsh Language, Eluned Morgan, said that is down to the people of Wales.

"It all depends on how the Welsh public behaves. It's absolutely in the hands of the Welsh public," she said.

"We can put measures and restrictions in place, but if people don't respect them we can expect trouble ahead.

"That's why we've had to take these additional measures to ask people to restrict their gatherings at Christmas to no more than two households.

"We need to understand that this disease is very very prevalent at the moment and if we see this continue as it is we could be in for a very hard time in the New Year."

She urged people to be responsible and to follow the rules.

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She was also asked whether the NHS is on the cusp of being overwhelmed, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

She answered: "The way we've dealt with this pandemic is to make sure the NHS doesn't become overwhelmed which is why we've had to take these very clear restrictions immediately after Christmas.

"There is no other choice here.

"If we want to ensure that the NHS does not become overwhelmed then we have to respect those rules over Christmas."