Rhondda Cynon Taf: Cluster contributing to local lockdown in south Wales blamed on trip to Doncaster races

Rebecca Speare-Cole16 September 2020

A trip to Doncaster races by a group of sports fans from south Wales is being blamed for a cluster of coronavirus cases in an area being put on local lockdown.

The borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf will be under new rules to curb the spread of Covid-19 from 6pm on Thursday, the Welsh Government announced on Wednesday.

The Welsh government said one of the clusters was associated “with a club outing to the Doncaster races, which stopped off at a series of pubs on the way”.

The local lockdown follows a “rapid increase” in the number of Covid-19 cases, which have also been linked to people meeting indoors, not following social distancing guidelines and returning from holidays abroad, it said.

Further measures will be considered by the Welsh Government, working with Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Public Health Wales, if cases do not fall.

Health minister Vaughan Gething said: “We have seen a rapid rise in cases in Rhondda Cynon Taf in a very short space of time, linked to people socialising indoors and not following social distancing guidelines.

“We now have evidence of wider community transmission in the borough, which means we need to take urgent action to control and, ultimately, reduce the spread of the virus and protect people’s health.”

The measures follow a local lockdown in neighbouring Caerphilly
PA

There will be no change to rules allowing up to four households to form an exclusive extended household in Wales.

People will also still be able to meet up in groups of up to 30 outdoors, as long as they maintain social distancing.

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These changes will not apply in Caerphilly county borough, where a local lockdown has been enforced to control a rise in Covid-19 cases.

A statement from the Welsh Government said: "Contact tracing teams have been able to trace about half of the cases back to a series of clusters in the borough. The rest are linked to community transmission.

"There are a number of clusters in Rhondda Cynon Taf – two of which are significant. One is associated with a rugby club and pub in the lower Rhondda and the other with a club outing to the Doncaster races, which stopped off at a series of pubs on the way."

Restrictions on the 181,000 people who live there include a ban on extended households meeting indoors.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously announced that a limit of six people for social gatherings would come into force in England on Monday.

In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also confirmed that a maximum of six people from two households would be allowed to meet together.

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