Phil SumblerThe change of restrictions in Scotland on fans inside stadiums and also the upcoming Six nations is expected to have an impact on the next Welsh government update this week which is now tipped to allow fans to return to sports stadiums in Wales.
Whether that happens in time for a crowd to be allowed at the Swansea.com stadium for the visit of Preston on January remains to be seen but there is optimism that this could be the case.
Sports stadiums in Wales were shut before Christmas when FM Mark Drakeford moved the country to alert level 2 following an increase in Covid cases due to the Omicron variant – a decision that provoked much outrage amongst fans who cited the outdoor nature of venues as well as the benefits to mental health and well being.
Scotland followed an almost similar route but retracted it slightly by allowing crowds of up to 500 before yesterday’s announcement that the restrictions on this would be lifted from next Monday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament that the limit of 500 people would be removed from Monday 17 January – which will allow Celtic’s match with Hibernian on that day to be played before a full crowd at Celtic Park.
Event organisers will now have to check the vaccine certification of at least 50% of attendees, rather than the current 20%, or at least 1,000 people – whichever figure is higher.
From Monday, the definition of “fully vaccinated” for the purpose of vaccine passports will include having a booster if the second dose was more than four months ago.
The next Welsh government update is due later this week.
No, it wonโt force the hand of Welsh government the data will.