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9.30am GMT
Coronavirus cases increased in 20 of Wales’s 22 local authority areas on Thursday, with a “rising tide†of infections seen in both urban and rural areas, health minister Vaughan Gething said.
He told Good Morning Britain the Welsh government is acting on scientific evidence in imposing a ban on pubs, restaurants and cafes serving alcohol from 6pm on Friday.
I won’t pretend this won’t have a really significant impact on those businesses, at pretty much the worst time of the year for them as well, and I really do recognise that.
But if we don’t act on the evidence, then I’m afraid we won’t be meeting our responsibilities to keep Wales safe and to keep people alive.
9.27am GMT
Good morning, this is Jessica Murray, I’ll be running the liveblog today.
The government has again defended the UK’s swift approval of a coronavirus vaccine amid global criticism of the speedy process.
Related: Alok Sharma defends UK’s rapid approval of Covid vaccine
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