As the government grapples with rising coronavirus infections in England, there is a danger that the rapidly worsening situation in neighboring Wales could be overlooked.
According to Wales’ First Minister and the leader of the local Labor Party, Mark Drakeford, the country is now poised “close to a tipping point” as Covid-19 infections rise rapidly.
“We’re heading back to the sorts of demands on the health service that we saw earlier in the year”, Drakeford claimed after he revealed the number of Covid-19 infected patients in Welsh hospitals had increased “steadily over the last couple of weeks”.
Drakeford’s warning came on the heels of reports that 17 areas of Wales are now subject to local lockdown rules.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement, Drakeford couldn’t resist drawing a comparison with the situation in England by claiming that while an “identical position” does not yet exist, nonetheless not a “great deal of comfort” can be deduced from that.
Despite the worse situation in England, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has rejected a call by Drakeford to ban people travelling from coronavirus hotspots in England to Wales.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the pro-independence Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales), Rhun ap Iorweth, has called for an “unambiguous plan, communicated clearly, implemented effectively and enforced strictly” to contain the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Wales.