HEALTH minister Vaughan Gething said today that localised lockdowns are a possibility for areas of Wales experiencing a coronavirus outbreak.

In the past few days, as Wales begins to unlock, there have been outbreaks recorded, mostly in north Wales, but also in Merthyr.

As a result, there is a significant difference between the worst affected areas in Wales in the latest Public Health Wales figures and the least affected areas, despite case rates for the whole of Wales remaining at around 40 cases per 100,000.

READ MORE:

Monmouthshire has a case rate of 15.9, having recorded 15 cases over the seven days leading up to March 17 - the latest available data from Public Health Wales.

Ceredigion has a case rate of just 11 per 100,000 people, and Torfaen (23.4) has the sixth lowest case rate in Wales.

However, Merthyr has a case rate of 121 per 100,000 people, while Anglesey's is now at 107.1.

Speaking at Monday's Welsh Government press conference, Mr Gething was asked about whether local measures could be introduced in areas of Wales following an outbreak.

The minister said measures were being taken in north Wales in increase testing to help the Welsh Government and the local authority understand where the outbreak is, and to "try to make sure that we can avoid introducing further measures."

"Local measures are always a possibility," he said, speaking about Wales as a whole.

"We haven't ruled out the need to take those local measures, but we're looking to try to see if we can persuade people to go along with what we're looking to do - to find more cases, to identify where there's a problem and to persuade people to do the right thing to avoid those much bigger and more difficult measures that would affect people and businesses in a way that I think most people would find uncomfortable.

"If that's what's required to keep people safe, that’s what we’ll be prepared to do."