Non-essential retailers in Penarth say they are disappointed by the news that they will have to remain closed for another four weeks, as set out by the Welsh Government today.

This morning the government announced that hairdressers and barbers could reopen from Monday 15 March, and from 22 March, a gradual reopening of non-essential retail will begin, starting with lifting the restrictions on what shops which are currently open can sell.

If cases continue to fall, all shops will be able to reopen from 12 April – the same date as England.

The chair of Penarth Business Group Angelina Hall told Nub News that they had been hopeful about opening sooner.

"Non-essential retailers are understandably disappointed that we have to remain closed for a further 4 weeks," said Angelina.

"We were all hopeful that the date would be much earlier and allow us all to get our businesses open again and the economy moving.

"We ask locals to continue to try to use your local shops instead of the supermarkets and are thankful for the continued support locals have given us over the last few months."

Speaking at today's press conference, Mr Drakeford said that while there were "grounds for optimism", there were reasons to remain cautious.

"We are coming out of lockdown with a much more infectious form of the virus present everywhere across Wales. We also have a small number of cases of other mutations of the virus that originated overseas," he told the briefing.

"As soon as we relax the rules and people begin to mix again, there is a risk infections will rise.

"If we do too much too quickly, we will lose control of the virus and set off a new wave of infections. And then we would be back at the beginning, having to re-impose strict measures to protect people's health and save lives.

"To avoid all that from happening, our approach will continue to be careful and cautious.

"We will take a phased approach to unlocking each sector – starting with schools. We will make step-by-step changes each week gradually to restore freedoms.

"We will monitor each change we make, so we can track its impact, he said"

The latest figures for Wales show that the infection rate for Wales is 41 cases per 100,000 people in Wales –down from 43 on Thursday and is the lowest level seen since mid-September.

Mr Drakeford said that there is some variation in the rates across Wales – some parts of Wales have rates higher than this level.

He said they were watching cases in the under 25s very carefully as that group has previously acted as an early warning system for increases to come.

The positivity rate remains stable at 4.3%. The latest results from ONS Infection Survey suggests Wales has the lowest rates in the UK. The number of covid-related patients in hospital is falling faster every week.

More funding for businesses

The First Minister announced an extra £150m available to help businesses which are not yet able to open to help top up the non-domestic rates grants.

It means that hospitality, tourism, leisure and non-essential retail businesses, which must remain closed, will be eligible for a third payment of between £4,000 and £5,000 to help them meet ongoing operating costs while they cannot trade.

"This is in top of the announcement earlier this week extending the business rates holiday for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses for the whole of the next financial year," Mr Drakeford added.

"We have made well in excess of £2 billion available to businesses over the course of the last year to help them through the pandemic, which is over and above the support available from the UK Government's schemes.

"This is the most generous business support scheme available in the UK. I'm very pleased we've been able to safeguard more than 160,000 jobs in these most difficult of times."

Rules for the Easter holidays

Mr Drakeford outlined the rules for the re-opening of self-contained holiday accommodation.

This will be able to start from Saturday 27 March, in time for the school Easter holidays.

The main rules are that:

• People will be able to travel anywhere in Wales as the 'stay local' rule will be lifted
• Only self-contained accommodation will be allowed to open
• It does include hotels that are able to offer room service
• You can only go with people in your own household
• Owners of self-contained accommodation can't take bookings from people outside of England.

The latest lockdown review – what's changing?

• From Saturday 13 March, the existing 'stay at home' message will be replaced by a 'stay local' rule
• Also from Saturday up to four people from a maximum of two households will be able to socialise together outdoors, including in gardens
• Outdoor sports facilities such as basketball and tennis courts and golf courses can also open again from Saturday
• Care home visits will be able to resume from Saturday 13 March, on the basis of a single designated visitor
• From Monday 15 March, all primary school pupils will return to face-to-face teaching, as will exam-year students in secondary schools. Wholesale school re-opening will not take place until after the Easter break
• Hairdressers and barbers can re-open for appointments from Monday 15 March
• Non-essential retail will begin to re-open on a gradual basis from Monday 22 March. At that stage shops such as supermarkets, which are currently entitled to remain open, will see restrictions on what they can sell removed while garden centres can re-open from that date
• On 27 March, the 'stay local' message ends and people will be allowed to travel anywhere in Wales. Self-contained holiday accommodation will be allowed to open in time for the Easter holidays
• All shops, including close contact services, will be able to re-open from 12 April
• The next three-week review takes place on 2 April