Anglesey Council leader questions whether visitor accommodation should be reopened on island in light of Covid spike

The leader of Anglesey Council has questioned whether visitor accommodation should be reopened on the island in light of the recent spike of Covid cases.

This weekend, residents in Holyhead and the wider Holy Island area have been urged not to travel unless it’s essential.

People from outside the area are likewise being advised not to visit unless necessary following a spike in Covid cases in the area.

Whilst Anglesey is technically under the same “stay local” regulations as the rest of Wales, concerns have been raised over an increase in cases of the virus on the island.

The Welsh Government has previously said it will take stock of the latest evidence before confirming changes to the nationwide restrictions for the Easter holidays.

If the public health conditions continue to be favourable, the “stay local” restrictions will be lifted to allow people to travel within Wales from 27 March and self-contained holiday accommodation will re-open for one household.

However, Anglesey Council leader Llinos Medi has questioned whether the reopening of holiday accommodation should go ahead on the island following the recent spike in cases locally.

Speaking to ITV News, she said: “We’re looking at additional capacity of testing in the area and all of these plans are happening over the weekend.

“We do have concerns as there’s Trearddur Bay on Holy Island and we know that second homeowners are quite high there.

“I’m asking the Welsh Government to consider if it’s safe here on Anglesey that we do re-open that sector.

“They need to make those decisions also to safeguard the health service here so that they can also serve the people of the Anglesey with other health concerns that they have.”

When asked whether she would advocate a local lockdown for Anglesey, she said: “We’ll do whatever it takes, but we still need compliance and we still need people to listen to those rules.

“If we go into a local lockdown, there’s no point having that local lockdown if people don’t listen to it

“What we’re seeing now is an increase in the town of Holyhead and we will do anything it takes to protect the island.

“For the people, the gift is in their hands and they need me to do what they should do to self-isolate limit their connection with other people.”