Covid-19: Welsh Government update 22 February 2021 - BBC News
Details and reaction to a briefing by Education Minister Kirsty Williams and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Chris Jones.
Education Minister Kirsty Williams has said the Welsh Government will "balance needs" for the entire population in deciding which lockdown measures to ease.

On Friday, First Minister Mark Drakeford indicated that some non-essential shops could reopen before all secondary pupils were back to face-to-face learning.

When asked about other areas of society opening before all children were back at school, Ms Williams said the government would "use what available headroom we have to prioritise children and young people - that will not change".

But she said there "may be other headroom that allows us to do other things".

"We also have to recognise the complexities of schools as organisations - they have potentially large numbers of pupils but also adults working in those circumstances."

Ms Williams said the government would "maximise face-to-face contact" but did not want to "jeopardise further disruption in those schools".

She added: "The top priority of this government is to get pupils back to face-to-face learning. The government will balance needs of the entire population."