PEOPLE in Wales should not expect the current lockdown restrictions to be eased significantly at the next review towards the end of this month, said health minister Vaughan Gething.

Asked at today's Welsh Government coronavirus briefing if a relaxation was imminent, Mr Gething acknowledged that case rates and test positivity rates have fallen noticeably since before and immediately after the festive season.

A month into the latest lockdown, and case rates have been falling across much of Wales - even in areas in north Wales harder hit than most by the new variant of coronavirus.

Gwent has seen some big falls in these case rates, most notably in Blaenau Gwent, which now has one of the lowest in Wales after having one of the highest shortly after and during the festive season.

But hospitals remain under severe pressure dealing with high numbers of coronavirus patients, and this is expected to continue for some time yet, while death rates remain very high.

The latest rolling weekly case rate for Wales - to the week ending January 15 - is 284.8 per 100,000 population, well down on just a few weeks ago, and even on 10 days ago.

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The current test positivity rate is also down from around one-in-four across Wales recently, to 16.7 per cent, or around one-in-six, to the week ending January 15.

Mr Gething however, stressed that despite there being real signs of progress, these rates remain high, and "no-one should expect a significant easing at the end of the next review period".

"It is good news that case rates are below 300 (per 100,000 population) but that is still high, and positivity rates are really still quite high too," he said.

"Our NHS is still under significant pressure. There has been a slight easing of pressure in critical care, but it is still operating at almost 150 per cent of capacity."

He added that if we come out of alert level four too soon, the risk is that we could see a 'rebound', with an increase in cases and hospitalisations, "with all the harm that could do".

"People should not expect a significant easing (of lockdown restrictions) at the end of this current phase," he said, though ministers will take note of any advice and guidance received from experts.