HEALTH minister Vaughan Gething said he is "optimistic" about people being able to enjoy some sort of holiday break in the summer - but that may well not be abroad.

Mr Gething's optimism echoed that of his UK Government counterpart, Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock, who told ITV's Good Morning Britain today that he is optimistic "that we will have a great British summer.

But there remains much uncertainty about what form such a break might take, with Mr Gething saying he does not know at this stage where those holidays might be taken, whether foreign travel will be allowed, or whether it is more likely that breaks should be taken in Wales or the rest of the UK.

"I'm optimistic that people will be able to have a holiday break of some kind over the summer. I wouldn't want to forecast where that would be though," said Mr Gething at today's Welsh Government coronavirus briefing.

"We know many people are opting to stay within Wales or the UK - but the challenge is that we know that from [last] summer that international travel to mainland Europe caused lots of mixing and a reintroduction of coronavirus into the UK.

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"It helped to promote the growth of the virus through the autumn. So we're all still going to need to make responsible choices.

"I don't think we are going to go back to the days we would have enjoyed, say, a year and a half ago."

Mr Gething would not be drawn on the prospect of people being able to go abroad for a break later this year, as the situation is "too uncertain" at this distance.

"If international travel restarts in earnest for people to be able to go on holiday, we'll then need to see what the rules are about either vaccination or testing before and on arrival back as well," he said.

He stressed however, that maintaining the progress that is being made in slowing the spread of coronavirus is vital.

"We are winning the battle in reducing case rates and increasing vaccinations, and that will open up choices for us in the future," he said.