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| Coronavirus: Rhondda Cynon Taff to go into lockdown | Coronavirus: Rhondda Cynon Taff to go into lockdown |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A second county in Wales will go into lockdown because of the rate of coronavirus cases. | A second county in Wales will go into lockdown because of the rate of coronavirus cases. |
| The 240,000 people living in Rhondda Cynon Taff will have restrictions imposed on their daily lives. | The 240,000 people living in Rhondda Cynon Taff will have restrictions imposed on their daily lives. |
| From 18:00 BST on Thursday, people will not be able to enter or leave the area without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or education. | From 18:00 BST on Thursday, people will not be able to enter or leave the area without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or education. |
| All licensed pubs, bars and restaurants will have to shut at 23:00 every day, once the lockdown comes into effect. | |
| Rules allowing people to meet others from their extended households indoors will be suspended in the county. | |
| Health Minister Vaughan Gething said there had been a "rapid" rise in cases, with 82.1 infections per 100,000 people over the past seven days. | Health Minister Vaughan Gething said there had been a "rapid" rise in cases, with 82.1 infections per 100,000 people over the past seven days. |
| The latest equivalent figure across the whole of Wales is 21.4 per 100,000. | The latest equivalent figure across the whole of Wales is 21.4 per 100,000. |
| It is the second local lockdown in Wales, after Caerphilly was subject to restrictions last week. | |
| Tuesday's rate of positive tests in RCT was 4.3% - the highest in Wales - Mr Gething previously warned a positive rate of 4% across Wales would trigger a national lockdown. | |
| Contact tracing teams had been able to trace about half of the coronavirus cases in RCT "back to a series of clusters within the borough", he said. | |
| "The rest are evidence of community transmission." | "The rest are evidence of community transmission." |
| One cluster is associated with a rugby club, and a pub in the lower Rhondda valley, another is connected to a club outing to the Doncaster races, which the minister said stopped off at a series of pubs on the way. | |
| A review into the lockdown will be held in two weeks' time. | A review into the lockdown will be held in two weeks' time. |
| Under the lockdown rules, no one will be able to leave or enter the county without a reasonable excuse. | |
| The list of excuses to travel is the same as that seen in Caerphilly, including: | |
| Motorists will be able to drive through the county borough, providing they do not stop. | |
| Rules allowing people to meet six people from their extended household will not apply in RCT. | |
| Mr Gething said residents will be able to meet outdoors "for the time being". | |
| Pubs have been a "real factor" in the spread of the virus in RCT, the minister told a Welsh Government press conference where he made the announcement. | |
| He said a series of bars and pubs have faced closures and improvement notices in the area. | |
| A bar has been shut in Pontypridd after a series of breaches were captured on CCTV; a licensed premise was closed in Tonypandy and improvement notices for another bar in Pontypridd and a barbers in Tonypandy were also issued. | |
| A further 50 licensed premises were visited by council officers over the weekend, Mr Gething said. | |
| Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant said he had been "warning this would be necessary". | |
| "Now we need to stick to the rules and get the transmission rate down to protect the NHS and the most vulnerable." |