UK Covid live news: Wales to begin easing restrictions from Saturday

Universities minister Michelle Donelan has said the number of people looking to go into medical careers has “rocketed”, partly due to the pandemic.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said:

Last year we saw an increase of applications into nursing of 34% and we’re expecting similar, if not higher, levels again this year. People have been so taken aback by the role of these individuals that they also want to play their part.

However, gruelling 12-hour shifts, exhaustion and burnout are leading growing numbers of nurses to quit the NHS within three years of joining, research has shown.

Donelan also said that increasing nurses’ pay by more than 1% would not be a U-turn as the review is a “process”, amid growing criticism on the government that the offer was “a slap in the face” and could amount to a real-terms pay cut due to inflation.

She also backed the police, after Reclaim These Streets – the group planning to hold a vigil on Saturday evening close to the spot where Sarah Everard disappeared – said it has been told that such action would be unlawful due to Covid restrictions and could bring criminal prosecution and thousands of pounds in fines.

“As a woman I also recognise that we’re in a global pandemic and restrictions are in place to safeguard the lives of women and men,” she told Sky News.

PC Wayne Couzens has been arrested on suspicion of the kidnap and murder of Everard. He has also been arrested on suspicion of an indecent exposure involving another woman some two weeks ago, amid suggestions the incident may not have been properly investigated at the time.

Wales first minister Mark Drakeford has said that guidance for people to stay within five miles of their homes as part of “stay local” restrictions in Wales is “not a rule”.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live:

It is guidance and is to be interpreted in people’s individual circumstances. Of course there will be people, in rural Wales particularly, who don’t live five miles away from a shop – they would have to travel further, and they’ll be able to do that over the next two weeks. People can interpret it with some flexibility in their local circumstances.

Drakeford was asked to give an assurance that people would not be penalised if they travelled more than five miles to go to a shop or hairdressers.

Provided that they are not passing lots of shops in order to go to another one, then of course that will be consistent with the rule.

Some semblance of normal life will begin again in Wales from Saturday, with the country’s first minister, Mark Drakeford, expected to announce a change from the current “stay home” restrictions to more lenient “stay local” requirements.

This morning, he said coronavirus numbers in Wales were continuing to go in the right direction”, and that people from two households will be able to meet in gardens from Saturday, while hairdressers and barbers will be able to operate from Monday. Non-essential retail will begin to reopen from 22 March.

Drakeford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

Provided things continue to go in the right direction, we hope to be able to reopen self-contained accommodation for the Easter period.

He said that in many Welsh homes, people would need to go through the house to access the back garden but “the idea is you walk straight through, out the back door into the garden”.

That will be a big step forward here in Wales, people haven’t been able to do that now for weeks and weeks. For many families that will allow grandparents to see grandchildren again and it’s a sign that cautiously, carefully and step by step, we’re now on the journey of reopening Welsh society.

Drakeford added that he has “anxieties” about the resumption of foreign travel from as early as 17 May.

I do not want to see all the hard work that people in Wales have put in over recent weeks being undermined by the reimportation of the virus.

The prime minister’s road map for England is very clear that these are indicative dates and when I’ve raised this with UK ministers they always emphasise that the decision would be made in the circumstances much closer to the time. I am saying that for me, that does look early.

I would want to be completely confident that we are not running the risk of a reimportation of the virus, particularly now that we know there are new variants of this virus in other parts of the world.

People in England will not be able to holiday in Wales when self-contained accommodation reopens at Easter, he said.

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone reading. I’m Mattha Busby and I’ll be bringing you UK updates on the coronavirus pandemic. Please send me any tips or thoughts via my Twitter or over email on mattha.busby.freelance@guardian.co.uk