After Brexit, whose potential for division continues to be felt, today it is Covid-19 which is seriously testing the unity of the United Kingdom and its “four Nations” (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales). On Wednesday 14 October, Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Prime Minister, made a dramatic exit, explaining that he wanted to block the access of Wales to the British – especially the English, coming from areas more infected by the coronavirus.
The Welsh “Are anxious” and “Claim” action be taken, insisted the local leader – a member of the Labor Party so far rather low-key and conciliatory to London. “We are ready to take action to prevent people living in areas with higher infection rates elsewhere in the country from coming to Wales and bringing the virus there. I am determined to protect the health of the Welsh. ”
Like Northern Ireland and Scotland, Wales has significant ‘devolved’ powers: with a parliament and a government, it manages education, justice and issues itself. health. If Cardiff entered containment at the same time as London, on March 23, the Welsh capital has gradually distinguished itself – just like Scotland, with an approach often more cautious than the British government (deconfinement has for example been more progressive).
Traffic restrictions
Since the end of September, large swathes of Wales have again come under traffic restrictions, as infection rates have climbed like everywhere else (with almost 100 positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants on average, for a total of almost 1,700 deaths since the start of the pandemic).
Wales is however much less affected than the region of Liverpool, England, on its northern border, which has just been placed on high alert by London, its hospitals starting to run out of intensive care beds. As of Wednesday evening, nearly 20,000 new positive SARS-CoV-2 cases were recorded across the UK.
Mark Drakeford had been raising his voice for several days, calling for concrete action from London: precise traffic restrictions for residents of the most infected areas in England (mainly the North East, the North West and the Midlands). The maximum alert level applying to Liverpool (and possibly, in the coming hours, Manchester) already includes a traffic restriction “In and out of the area”, but that did not seem sufficient for Cardiff.
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