SHIELDERS living in Wales have been advised to avoid leaving the house until April, in a new letter published by the Welsh Government.

In the first lockdown around 130,000 people in Wales were considered vulnerable enough to need to shield at home due to underlying health conditions, and received a letter.

This advice was given again before Christmas, after the Welsh Government told shielders they could begin to leave their homes in August.

The Welsh Government has now extended the shielding period from February 7 until March 31.

In a written statement health minister Vaughan Gething said the decision was made on the advice of Wales’ chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton.

He said the changes were based on continued community transmission.

The health minister said letters would be reissued to people shielding over the next fortnight, and committed to vaccinating all shielders by mid-February.

"At present, the advice not to attend work and school outside the home will continue to apply even after both doses of the vaccine have been received,” he said.

“This is because the incidence of coronavirus in our communities remains high and the proportion of people who have been vaccinated is relatively low.

“This advice is consistent across the four UK nations and will be kept under review by the four Chief Medical Officers.

“The consideration of advice to the clinically extremely vulnerable is separate to the coronavirus regulations and, whilst we are still in a challenging period in relation to levels of the virus in our communities, this extended date should not be taken as an indicator of the outcome of alert level reviews during this period.”