An obligation for firms to take Covid precautions ends on Monday, the Welsh government announces.
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A law requiring workplaces in Wales to take precautions for Covid will be axed from Monday.
It is one of two remaining Covid measures the Welsh government has in place.
Rules requiring facemasks in health and social care settings will remain in force for at least another three weeks.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said the mask rule would help control the spread of Covid where “some of the most vulnerable people” are treated or live.
The move to scrap restrictions on businesses comes despite recent swab survey data suggesting record infections.
Mr Drakeford said his government’s decision “doesn’t mean the pandemic is over”.
He added: “Unfortunately coronavirus is still with us – we’ve seen a spike in infections over the last month, with large numbers of people falling ill and a surge in hospital admissions.
“We hope we are beginning to turn the corner. But it’s really important we all continue to take steps to protect ourselves and each other.”
The last Welsh government review of coronavirus rules saw the end of the laws requiring people to wear face coverings in shops and on public transport, and to self-isolate if they catch coronavirus.
Both measures were replaced with guidance.
Under the law, companies and other organisations had been required to assess the risk coronavirus poses in their workplace.
They were required to take precautions from a shopping list of suggestions, such as ensuring premises are well ventilated, using screens or barriers and limiting close physical interaction, and could have faced fines if they ignored the rules.
The Welsh government said firms would “continue to be encouraged to take steps to operate in a Covid-safe manner”.
Workplaces will still be subject to other legal responsibilities, such as under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The Welsh Conservatives’ Russell George said the changes were coming “too late with the long bank holiday weekend already on us”.
He called for Mr Drakeford to use the next review to “finally announce an independent public inquiry into the Welsh government’s handling of the pandemic that has seen Wales with the highest rate of deaths in the UK and record-breaking waiting lists”.
Figures for deaths in Wales involving Covid, which do not adjust for age or population, are higher in Wales than the other UK nations at 312.6 per 100,000 people.
When standardised for age the figure is 142.7, slightly lower than England’s 143.2, but higher than Scotland and Northern Ireland.
‘Absence remains a real problem’
Plaid Cymru’s Peredur Owen Griffiths also called for a Welsh-only pandemic inquiry, adding: “Key worker illness and sickness absence remains a real problem for many services. That’s why it’s more important than ever that the Labour government provides a meaningful plan for NHS recovery.”
Business groups welcomed the move.
CBI Wales’ Leighton Jenkins said: “These recent changes will be welcomed by businesses, which are under strain due to rising energy costs and inflation.”
Ben Cottam, head of the Federation of Small Businesses Wales, added: “Business will continue to do everything they can to ensure customers and staff are safe.”
Shavanah Taj, general secretary of the Wales TUC group of trade unions, said employers “still have a legal obligation to ensure the safety and security of their workers”.
“Employers must continue to assess the physical environment and working practices in order to safeguard against the spread of infection.”
Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Jane Dodds, also welcomed the decision and called for the fourth booster vaccine to be opened up to those under 75 who want it.
The most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated a record 230,800 people in Wales had Covid in the week ending 2 April.
One in 13 people were estimated to have coronavirus that week.
Figures from Tuesday show there was an average of 819 hospital patients with Covid, a 5% drop on a week ago, but advisers project that this could go higher.
The number of patients in hospital with confirmed Covid is up on the same point in 2021, but the numbers of infections is considerably more.
Modelling for the Welsh government’s scientific advisers suggests the numbers in hospital could rise to 1,700 patients – with critical-care patients peaking at up to 40 – before falling.
But only 113 (16%) of confirmed Covid patients in acute beds on 11 April were being primarily treated for the virus, with 575 in hospital to be treated for other conditions.
Earlier this week registered deaths involving Covid in Wales rose to their highest weekly total in two months, according to the ONS.
In the most recent week, up to 1 April, 61 people in Wales had a death registered which involved Covid – and saw it included as a contributory factor on a death certificate.
It was the highest weekly total since early February – there were 45 deaths registered in the previous week.
The next three-weekly review of coronavirus regulations is expected around 5 May.
