PEOPLE in Wales should not travel abroad unless "absolutely essential", health minister Eluned Morgan has said.

Speaking at a press conference in Cardiff, Ms Morgan said she understood people's desires to holiday abroad, but asked for them to hold off on travelling overseas for the time being.

"There’s been a lot of attention on international travel over the past few days, and in the recent miserable weather it's understandable that many people will be tempted by the promise of sun and holidays abroad," she said. "But we would strongly ask you not to travel just yet.

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"You should only go abroad if it's absolutely essential, otherwise we risk bringing virus or more worryingly a new variant back home with us to Wales

"I think we recognise that this is a really really difficult time but I would ask people to look at the broader picture and that is how our whole economy could come to a grinding standstill again if we were to let new variants take hold.

"We've also got to consider that actually the tourism industry in Wales it has an opportunity to recover and I see a responsibility as a government to stand by our own tourism sector and our hospitality sector.

"We live in a fantastically beautiful country and I would encourage people to use the opportunity to holiday here in Wales and support those sectors of the economy that have really suffered during the pandemic."