A WELSH politician is calling for stricter travel restrictions as the coronavirus cases in the country continue to rise.

Public Health Wales figures released this afternoon show that 281 cases were confirmed in Wales over the past 24 hours, with at least one in every county.

Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Gwynedd all recorded one new case today but Carmarthenshire recorded 16 new.

With tighter restrictions being announced for England by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, this afternoon, Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP, Liz Saville Roberts, says the imbalance of lockdown restrictions between England and Wales is putting communities at risk.

Over a quarter of the Welsh population is now facing local restrictions following Covid-19 outbreaks. These measures require people to only make necessary journeys – such as for school or work – into or out of the area under lockdown.  

Although significant portions of England area also under ‘local lockdowns’, there are no such restrictions on travel.  

Plaid Cymru MP, Ms Saville Roberts, called on the Prime Minister to review this guidance to ensure people travelling from areas of England where there are high infection rates do not transport the virus to areas across the UK where Coronavirus infections are more manageable or in decline.  

Speaking in the House of Commons this lunchtime, Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “At the start of the pandemic, there were concerns that people were gathering in crowds at beauty spots like Yr Wyddfa/ Snowdon. This happened again last weekend.

“Local lockdowns in Wales now require people to remain within their local authority area. No such requirement exists in England.

“In those unfortunate situations where people face local lockdowns, will he give clear guidance against travel out-of-area for non-essential purposes?

“Of course, we want to welcome people from those areas not facing a local lockdown, but as the Westminster Government’s own scientific advisors laid bare yesterday, we are now entering a new stage in this pandemic.

“Local lockdowns are being announced almost daily and we need to ensure that, as was the case six months ago, we minimise the spread to areas where the virus is not already prevalent.  As we face a second-wave, the Prime Minister must learn the lessons of the first.

“Over a quarter of the Welsh population now face local lockdowns. As part of these restrictions, people are quite reasonably asked not to travel outside of their local area unnecessarily.

“This is not the case in England and there are increasing concerns in communities across Wales, about the transportation of the virus from these areas to places where the disease is currently in retreat.

“The Prime Minister should look again at the advice on local lockdowns in England in order to protect communities who are winning in their fight against Coronavirus.

Her calls have been echoed by Plaid Cymru Arfon MS Siân Gwenllian who said: “It makes no sense to me that people in places like Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham under local restrictions can travel as they wish on their holiday to parts of north Wales and risk spreading the virus.

“People are getting very worried once again. I fear we could see tensions rise in communities as we saw at the start of the lockdown.

“The Welsh Government needs to make it clear to the UK Government that this is not acceptable.”