FIRST Minister Mark Drakeford is expected to announce plans to phase out Covid restrictions over the next two weeks later today.

Mr Drakeford will deliver the press briefing at 12.15pm today and is expected to outline plans to move Wales back into alert level zero.

This is following a Welsh Government announcement last night saying current restrictions can now be removed.

The Welsh Government statement said:

The Welsh Government is able to start removing the protections put in place in response to the omicron wave, thanks to the support of people across Wales and the successful booster campaign – more than 1.75million people have had the extra booster dose.

Outdoor restrictions are expected to be phased out first, which is good news for sports teams and fans.

Current restrictions mean that sports games are played behind closed doors and there were fears that the Six Nations games in Wales would either be behind closed doors or Wales would be forced to play home games in England.

Under current restrictions, a maximum of 30 people are allowed to attend indoor events and up to 50 people at outdoor events.

Wales has had alert level two restrictions since Boxing Day, with restrictions including the closure of nightclubs, two-metre social distancing in offices and public places and the rule of six for people meeting in public places;

People attending weddings, civil partnership receptions, or wakes, are asked to take lateral flow tests before going.

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The easing of restrictions follows a move from the Welsh Government on January 6 to change PCR testing.

Unvaccinated contacts of positive cases and are self-isolating for 10 days should now take a lateral flow test on day two and day eight instead of a PCR test.

Also, If a person showing no symptoms has a positive lateral flow test they are now longer be advised to have a follow-up PCR test to confirm the result unless they are in a clinically vulnerable group or are advised to do so for research.