Here are the coronavirus morning headlines for Friday, February 11, as changes to coronavirus restrictions in Wales are annnounced.
Covid passes are to be scrapped and the need to wear face coverings in certain venues removed later this month as coronavirus cases continue to fall, the Welsh Government has announced.
The changes will be confirmed on Friday during the first three-week review of Wales' alert level zero measures. Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, will appear at the press conference in Cardiff in the place of First Minister Mark Drakeford, who has tested positive for coronavirus.
You can follow live updates from the 12.15pm briefing here.
The first minister chaired a meeting of his senior ministers virtually on Thursday morning, and after he said vaccination levels and decreasing infection rates mean the country can "look forward to brighter times ahead".
He signalled that face masks could be scrapped completely by the end of March should public health conditions continue to improve.
While all Covid regulations in England are set to abolished in two weeks, Mr Drakeford stressed his government remained cautious. Read what the Welsh Government said about the plans in England here.
A plan will be published next month setting out how Wales will move beyond "the emergency footing on which we have been operating for nearly two years", Mr Drakeford added.
The First Minister said: "With increasing numbers of people vaccinated and boosted and thanks to the hard work and efforts of everyone across Wales, we are confident that coronavirus rates are falling and we can look forward to brighter times ahead.
"We can start to gradually and carefully remove some of the remaining protections we have in place at alert level zero.
"But we are not removing all the measures at once because the pandemic is not over yet. To keep Wales safe we need to remain cautious and do everything we can to reassure those who feel most at risk."
From Friday, February 18 , there will no longer be a legal requirement to have domestic Covid passes to enter indoor or outdoor events including nightclubs, cinemas, or theatres. But venues will still be able to use them if they choose to.
However, the international Covid pass rules will remain in force.
Then from Monday, February 28 , compulsory face coverings will be removed from most public places, including gyms, cinemas and churches. They will still be required in all shops, public transport, and health and care settings.
On the same day, schools will return to using their local decision framework, meaning rules will vary from area to area.
The guidance is to be updated to make it clear adults should be able to remove their face masks when interacting with babies and small children at baby and toddler groups.
The self-isolation rules currently in place in Wales will remain in force, meaning anyone who tests positive with Covid-19 still has to remain at home for five full days and take a negative lateral flow test on days five and six.
The next review of the coronavirus regulations will take place on March 3.
Commenting on the lifting of further measures, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds said: "I welcome the decision to scrap Covid passes, which the Welsh Liberal Democrats led the campaign against.
"We must remain cautious, but I'm sure the public will be glad to see light at the end of the tunnel and a return to some sense of normality."
Read more: The pockets of Wales where vaccination takeup has been lower than expected
Infection rate for Wales falls again
Wales has recorded five new coronavirus deaths, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales.
The data published on Thursday, February 10 and covering a 24-hour period, shows 1,761 new positive cases to bring the total to 796,922.
The overall number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive in Wales stands at 6,894.
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests, for the seven days up to February 5, now stands at 412.9 cases for every 100,000 people – a reduction from the 427.9 recorded on Wednesday.
The infection rate based on PCR tests is only a guide to the spread of Covid in Wales as it does not include lateral flow test results, which are reported weekly in Wales. People with no symptoms who test positive on an LFT no longer need a confirmatory PCR test.
The latest data on lateral flow tests, published on Thursday for the week to February 6, show there have been a further 18,690 positive test results reported. That's down from 23,066 the previous week. Positivity also decreased from 11.87% to 10.24%. The highest incidence rate was in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area with 680.2 positive tests for every 100,000 people. Cases for your area here.
Travel rules relaxed for fully vaccinated travellers
Hundreds of thousands of people are embarking on a half-term getaway as the UK scraps coronavirus testing for fully vaccinated travellers.
Travel trade organisation Abta described the easing of restrictions as "a new chapter" for the industry's recovery.
Meanwhile, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the scrapping of testing ahead of half term comes as "good news" for families.
"The UK has eased international travel measures for Covid-19 and now has one of the most free-flowing borders in the world - sending a clear message that we are open for business," he added.
Turkey, Egypt and Portugal are among the most popular short-haul destinations, while departures to the US state of Florida, Dubai, Mexico and the Caribbean have sold well for longer-haul holidays, according to Abta.
Ski resorts in France, Italy and Switzerland are also in demand.
Stansted Airport told Abta it is expecting around 200,000 passengers to depart between February 11 and 18.
Other airports to provide figures for the half-term getaway in England that starts today include Gatwick (186,000 passengers), Manchester (160,000 passengers), Luton (55,000 passengers), Bristol (55,000 passengers) and East Midlands (17,000 passengers).
The UK's rules for arriving travellers will be eased from 4am on Friday (February 11). The half term holiday in Wales starts next Friday.
People who are fully vaccinated will no longer need to take a post-arrival lateral flow test, which typically costs around £20 each.
The requirement for unvaccinated arrivals to self-isolate will be dropped, but they will still need to take tests.
Andrew Flintham, managing director for TUI UK, said bookings for February half-term and Easter were now "comparable" to 2019.
"There remains a huge pent-up demand for international travel and we've seen strong and sustained booking patterns since the announcement as customers look to go abroad with ease and without the added expense of testing," he said.
Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways also welcomed the changes but added: "We hope that other countries will soon catch up with the UK's pragmatic approach."
A poll of 2,000 UK consumers commissioned by Abta indicated that 64% of families with children under 16 say the limited opportunities to travel during the pandemic have made their holidays more important to them than before.
The travel association's director of communications Graeme Buck said: "Today's changes to the travel rules are the start of a new chapter for the travel industry's recovery.
"Testing has been one of the biggest barriers to travel, so it's hugely welcome that the process of travelling abroad is now much cheaper and easier for millions of UK holidaymakers."
Cross-Channel train operator Eurostar said more than 125,000 people are booked to travel between the UK and the Continent during the school holiday.
The busiest day will be Friday, when more than 16,000 passengers are booked to travel.
Several services are sold out. Eurostar chief commercial officer Francois Le Doze said: "With travel restrictions between the UK and France lifting, we are seeing a surge in leisure traffic both in the short term and looking further ahead to spring and early summer.
"We have as many passengers booked to travel in February half-term as we had across the whole of January which shows the potential for recovery and the appetite for travel between the UK and the Continent."
UK holidaymakers travelling abroad must still follow the coronavirus regulations that apply at their destination.
Spain's requirement for children over 12 to be fully vaccinated led many UK families to cancel plans to visit the Mediterranean country over half-term.
Queen's health monitored after Prince Charles tests positive
The Queen has been confirmed to have been in direct contact with Charles after it was announced he had tested positive for coronavirus.
The monarch is not displaying any symptoms, a palace source said. They declined to say whether or not the Queen had tested negative.
The 95-year-old is believed to have spent time with Charles on Tuesday when her eldest son was carrying out an investiture on her behalf at her Windsor Castle home. She is understood to be fully vaccinated so will not be self isolating, although she will be advised to take daily lateral flow tests for a week.
A message on the prince’s official Twitter feed stated: “This morning the Prince of Wales has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating.
“HRH is deeply disappointed not to be able to attend today’s events in Winchester and will look to reschedule his visit as soon as possible.”
US urges Canada to use federal powers to end bridge blockade
The Biden administration has urged the Canadian government to use its federal powers to end the truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country's Covid-19 restrictions.
For the fourth straight day, scores of truckers taking part in what they dubbed the Freedom Convoy blocked the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, disrupting the flow of auto parts and other products between the two countries.
The blockade is happening at a bad time for the US auto industry. Supplies of new vehicles already are low across the nation because of the global shortage of computer chips, which has forced automakers to temporarily close factories.
"The disruptions we are seeing at the US-Canada border - at the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge and at other crossings - are adding to the significant supply chain strains on manufacturers and other businesses in the United States," the US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and Business Roundtable said in a joint statement.
"We respectfully urge the Canadian government to act swiftly to address the disruption to the flow of trade and its impact on manufacturers and other businesses on both sides of the border."
The White House said Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with their Canadian counterparts and urged them to help resolve the standoff.
Federal public safety minister Marco Mendicino said Royal Canadian Mounted Police reinforcements are being sent to Windsor, Ottawa and Coutts, Alberta where another border blockade is happening.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met virtually with leaders of Canada's opposition late on Thursday and said he spoke with Windsor's mayor. Mr Trudeau's office said there is a willingness to "respond with whatever it takes" to end the blockades.
In the US, authorities braced for the possibility of similar truck-borne protests inspired by the Canadians, and authorities in Paris and Belgium banned road blockades to head off disruptions there, too.
The US Department of Homeland Security said in a bulletin to local and state law enforcement agencies that it has received reports that truckers are planning to "potentially block roads in major metropolitan cities" in a protest against vaccine mandates and other issues.
The agency said the convoy could begin in Southern California as early as this weekend, possibly disrupting traffic around the Super Bowl, and reach Washington in March in time for the State of the Union address, according to a copy of Tuesday's bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
The White House said the department is "surging additional staff" to the Super Bowl just in case.
The protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other Covid-19 restrictions and are railing against Mr Trudeau, even though many of Canada's precautions, such as mask rules and vaccine passports for getting into restaurants, theatres and other places, were enacted by provincial authorities, not the federal government, and are already rapidly being lifted as the Omicron surge levels off.
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