Gyms open and friends hug as rules relax in Waleson May 3, 2021 at 8:49 am

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Some families and friends can hug again as Covid rules continue to be relaxed.

Woman working out

image copyrightReuters

Some families and friends will be able to hug for the first time in months and people can get back to gyms as lockdown rules are eased in Wales.

From now, two households – plus another living on their own – are able to form a “bubble” to meet and have contact indoors.

Gyms, swimming pools and community centres can also reopen after major changes to restrictions.

Wales’ case rate has fallen to its lowest point in eight months.

Organised children’s indoor activities – like sports classes, scouts, guides and parent and baby classes – will also be able to restart for the first time since lockdown returned in December.

One pool in Swansea reopened for swimmers at midnight.

Indoor fitness classes can begin again for up to 15 people, but only if they are organised and in a regulated setting, like a studio or gym.

However, children’s birthday parties and family gatherings are still banned.

Children’s soft play areas are not due to reopen until 17 May – the day pubs and restaurants are due to open indoors and all holiday accommodation can reopen.

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Rebecca Collins from Pontypridd said she would be meeting her parents and two brothers – who all live together – for the first time since Christmas.

Ahead of the reunion, she said it would be an “emotional day” as they were a close family who liked “cwtches” [hugs].

“We’ve missed each other a lot,” she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

Gyms, fitness facilities, leisure centres, spas and swimming pools can all reopen from Monday, with strict social distancing and sanitising procedures in place.

This latest easing of lockdown is the last act of the current Welsh Labour government before Thursday’s Welsh Parliament election.

The change was originally planned for 10 May, but was moved forward by a week because of a drop in Covid cases, the Welsh government said.

Ms Donovan

image copyrightThe Yoga Hub

After months of teaching yoga via a computer screen Alecs Donovan said she was excited to welcome people back to the studio to see people in person.

The Wales rugby player and yoga teacher set up Yoga Hub in Cardiff just weeks before the first lockdown, and had to move all her classes online.

“We are really looking forward to it, it feels like this last lockdown was really long, it has been really hard for so many people,” she said.

Cardiff fitness blogger Lara Rebecca said she had continued to work out during lockdown but was “massively looking forward to go back” inside the gym.

She told BBC’s 5 Live Breakfast she had not realised how much the gym provided her with a psychological release, a human connection and an “opportunity to train and individually lose yourself in noughties rock anthem music”.

While only 15 people can attend indoor classes under Covid rules, Ms Donovan said she was limiting classes to nine, to make sure people felt safe and could “ease back in” after months of being unable to practise with others in person.

“I feel people might be a bit anxious going back to classes because of the lack of socialising over the last few months,” she said, “but with the anxiousness comes excitement as well.”

Eira-Lily

image copyrightFamily photo

Christie-Ann Jones said she was excited to get back to baby groups for her daughter Eira-Lily and to spend time with their new friends.

The mother and daughter, from Cardiff, had gone to their first baby class in September, but then the firebreak lockdown happened and it closed again.

After spending her maternity leave in lockdown, Ms Jones said it had then been hard not being able to talk to other new mothers, to “go through it together” and “bounce off” while sharing the experience of having a new baby.

“I’m so glad to be able to go out – it’s been so isolating and lonely,” she said.

“I haven’t had that same connection, I guess, with other mums – it’s been so hard.”

The jones family

image copyrightFamily photo

Being able to meet her friends again outdoors had made a huge difference, she said.

“Straight away she was waving, smiling, clapping – she does do that at home with us, but if I’m bored of the sight of my own house, I bet she is,” she said.

Swimmers

image copyrightFreedom Leisure

Jim Kelly, general manager of Penlan Leisure Centre in Swansea, said about 30 people queued to use the pool after it reopened at midnight.

“It was really good to see the excitement from those customers,” he said.

Rhys Jones of Better, which runs leisure centres in Cardiff, said allowing gyms and pools to reopen would help prevent a further “health crisis”.

“Exercising has been tough throughout the lockdown winter months and people have been robbed of the opportunity to enjoy regular exercise.

“This has had untold consequences on the physical and mental health of our population and for every day that leisure facilities remain closed, public health deteriorates further, and the risk of obesity and stress becomes critical.”

People working out at Maindy Leisure Centre, Cardiff

image copyrightReuters

The latest lockdown easing means Wales is entirely into its alert level three – or very high – tier of restrictions where many strict Covid rules remain in place in a bid to control the virus.

Although indoor entertainment venues, indoor visitor attractions and nightclubs remain shut, more sectors can reopen as the country has the lowest case rate and has vaccinated the highest percentage of people in the UK.

Wales’ infection rate of 10.8 cases per 100,000 and its virus positivity rate are at their lowest since 1 September.

Covid patient hospital admissions are now in single figures and at their lowest since the start of the pandemic.

Wales is the last UK nation to reopen gyms and swimming pools for individual exercise.

But it is the first to allow adult indoor group exercise and indoor mixing of two households – those will not happen in England and Scotland until 17 May and in Northern Ireland until 24 May at the earliest.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said he could “allow more elements of normal life to return” because of a “successful” vaccination programme and an “improving public health situation”.

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“However, the virus has not gone away,” he added, warning people to continue to wash hands regularly, wear a face covering in enclosed public spaces, follow social distancing rules and “limit the number of people we meet socially outdoors”.

“By working together, by following these rules, the quicker we will return to normality,” he added.

The easing of rules so gyms could reopen and people could form an extended household was due to happen on 17 May but was brought forward on 9 April.

Two men in a swimming pool

image copyrightGetty Images

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies called it “a last-minute and cynical sop just days before the election”.

“People up and down Wales will be relieved that Labour is at last following the data,” he said.

“But as the Welsh Conservatives have advocated, this could have come sooner and not as a last-minute and cynical sop just days before the election.

“On Thursday, people across Wales have an opportunity to end these political games and can turn the page on 22 years of Labour holding back our country and our economy.”

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Plaid Cymru paid tribute to the “collective effort” of Wales residents for the latest rule easing.

Leader Adam Price said: “It remains the case that when further restrictions are eased that businesses must be supported with restart grants after an incredibly difficult start to the year.

“A Plaid Cymru government will provide restart grants of up to £20,000 to businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said she was pleased to see the reopening of gyms and swimming pools but added many business were “still suffering”.

She added: “At this week’s election Welsh Liberal Democrats are pledging to put recovery first and are proposing an extensive and comprehensive package of support for our businesses and high street.”

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