Here are the morning headlines for Friday, January 21, as a former health boss in Wales says that restrictions should have been lifted three weeks ago.
Dr Roland Salmon, former director of communicable diseases for Public Health Wales, has said in the past he believed the rules were only "at best marginally" beneficial.
He was speaking as First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed that nightclubs are on track to reopen and social distancing and rule of six requirements will be ended by the end of the month in Wales.
He said Wales would complete the move to alert level zero on January 28 unless the coronavirus situation deteriorates. Read the full statement here.
But Dr Salmon told BBC Radio Wales on Friday morning: "We are moving in the right direction, but I am a long-term sceptic of the value of these more global measures such as lockdowns and prevention of people meeting together because I feel they have contributed very little.
"By contrast, the vaccine has contributed a great deal. I don't really understand the timetable (in Wales), if I am perfectly honest. I mean, eight days ago I could meet with 50 people outside, yesterday with 500, yet today I can meet with as many as I like.
"There doesn't seem to me to be any coherent philosophy underlies this. It seems to me to reflect perhaps an over reliance on mathematical models of the pandemic, rather than someone looking at the data in front of you. We could have simply removed these restrictions at a stroke three weeks ago."
The latest public health data suggests Wales has passed the peak of the Omicron wave and coronavirus cases are falling back to levels similar to those seen earlier in the autumn.
There have also been reductions in the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital.
From Friday, Wales will move to alert level zero for all outdoor activities, meaning crowds will be able to return to outdoor sporting events and limits will be removed from taking part in outdoor activities.
The rule of six and social distancing will be removed from outdoor hospitality.
But the Covid pass will continue to be required for entry to larger outdoor events attended by more than 4,000 people, if unseated, or 10,000 people when seated. Covid passes will still be required in all cinemas, theatres and concert halls which are currently open.
Working from home will remain part of the advice from the Welsh Government but it will no longer be a legal requirement.
Read more : Welsh Government responds to Boris Johnson's decision to scrap mask rules
Welsh Government says restrictions stopped thousands catching Covid
Wales' Covid restrictions stopped almost 70,000 people getting the disease, according to the Welsh Government.
Wales' health minister Eluned Morgan told Senedd members that estimated figures showed that around 170,000 people in Wales had Covid in early January – enough to fill the Principality Stadium two-and-a-half times over.
"Had we not brought in restrictions we'd have had an extra 69,000 people with Covid. So that's enough to almost fill the Millennium Stadium [sic] again," she said.
We asked the Welsh Government for the figures behind her comments and were told they were illustrative figures based on the ONS infection survey for the week ending January 6.
Based on those figures in the week ending January 6 just under 170,000 people in Wales had coronavirus. If Wales had the same positivity rates then as England did there would have been an extra 40,000 people with it and if Wales had the same positivity rates as in London it would have been 69,000 people with Covid.
The stadium's capacity is 74,500.
Restrictions in Ireland set to ease
The Irish Cabinet will meet later to consider recommendations from health chiefs to end most of the state's Covid restrictions.
It is understood that the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has recommended restrictions around hospitality can be lifted, including the 8pm curfew and ending the requirement for a Covid pass to enter premises.
Nphet met on Thursday evening and issued a series of recommendations in a letter to ministers, and it is good news for Wales rugby fans planning to head for Dublin for the Six Nations game against Ireland. They are due to play each other on the opening day of the Six Nations on February 5.
The recommendations include that live venues and sport venues can return to full capacity, an end to restrictions on household guests and a phased return to work.
However the wearing of face masks is recommended to continue on public transport and in retail settings and Covid passes will still be needed for international travel.
In light of the recommendations, the Restaurants Association of Ireland has urged the Government to allow all hospitality businesses to trade as normal from Friday.
Government ministers will meet on Friday to assess the advice before Taoiseach Micheal Martin makes an announcement.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe told RTE it is reasonable to expect the state will be able to exit regulations at a faster pace than would have looked likely a number of weeks ago.
He said: "What we have done at all points in this pandemic is been guided by public health advice. We have looked to deploy timings that get the balance right between the needs to our economy and society and that of public health, and that is what we will continue to do."
Donall O'Keeffe, chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association, said the recommendations have been "eagerly awaited by the entire hospitality and late-night sectors for a long, long time".
"Hopefully the Government will now move swiftly and there will be no delays to the full reopening and the scrapping of hospitality restrictions," he said.
"Hospitality is ready and waiting to open our doors this weekend. If the Government gives the green light then the recovery of the hospitality and night-time sectors could begin as early as Friday night."
Earlier, Mr Martin said he will give a "clear and comprehensive statement" on Friday about the plans for the weeks and months ahead.
"The situation is positive. We have come through Omicron better than we might have expected prior to Christmas," he told RTE.
"The combination of the booster campaign and vaccination and the fact that Omicron does not seem to be as virulent as Delta and previous waves has meant that the impact on people, in terms of severe illness and death and ICUs, has been much less.
"So, therefore, I think people can be positive, we can be positive."
Tories face more infighting
The Conservative Party has been embroiled in more infighting as reports suggest rebel Tory MPs are considering publishing a secret recording and text messages linked to allegations of "blackmail" from the Prime Minister's supporters.
Boris Johnson insisted on Thursday he had "seen no evidence" to support the claim made by senior Conservative William Wragg that his critics were facing "intimidation" as part of an effort to prevent him being ousted from office.
But The Times has reported that Tory MPs keen to see the back of Mr Johnson have a secretly recorded "heated" conversation with the chief whip, as well as text messages to support the accusations.
It comes as Sue Gray, the senior official leading an inquiry into claims of rule-busting gatherings across Government, was said to have found an email warning Mr Johnson's principal private secretary Martin Reynolds against holding a drinks party in the No 10 garden during the first lockdown.
The email, sent by a senior official, told Mr Reynolds that the gathering "should be cancelled because it broke the rules", according to ITV News.
Mr Johnson has admitted attending the gathering in question for 25 minutes on May 20 2020, but insisted he believed it was a work event, and that he was not warned it would be against the rules.
The PM has been battling claims that Tory critics are facing "intimidation" which could amount to blackmail as part of an effort to keep him in post.
Mr Wragg said on Thursday he had received reports of conduct including "members of staff at 10 Downing Street, special advisers, government ministers and others encouraging the publication of stories in the press seeking to embarrass those who they suspect of lacking confidence in the Prime Minister".
"The intimidation of a Member of Parliament is a serious matter. Reports of which I am aware would seem to constitute blackmail," the chairman of the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee said.
"As such it would be my general advice to colleagues to report these matters to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police."
But Mr Johnson, on a visit to Taunton, said: "I've seen no evidence, heard no evidence, to support any of those allegations."
He said he would "of course" look for evidence to support the claims, but No 10 suggested there were no plans to launch an investigation as demanded by Labour.
The Times reported that one Tory MP said they were told by a whip "you're done" when voting against the Government last year.
The paper also claimed Tory rebels met on Thursday to discuss their next steps.
Austrian Parliament approves universal vaccine mandate
Austria's parliament has voted to introduce a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for adults from February 1, the first of its kind in Europe.
MPs voted 137 to 33 on Thursday to approve the mandate, which will apply to all residents of Austria aged 18 and over.
There will be maximum potential fines of up to 3,600 euros (£2,990) for people who do not comply after a series of reminders.
Exempted from the mandate are pregnant women, individuals who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated, and people who have recovered from a coronavirus infection in the past six months.
Officials say the mandate is necessary because vaccination rates remain too low. As of Wednesday, 71.8% of the population of 8.9 million was considered fully vaccinated.
From mid-March, police will start checking people's vaccination status during routine checks; people who cannot produce proof of vaccination will be asked in writing to do so, and will be fined up to 600 euros (£498) if they do not.
Fines could reach 3,600 euros if people contest their punishment and full proceedings are opened.
New Zealand PM warns Omicron outbreak is inevitable
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has warned that an Omicron outbreak is inevitable and the nation will tighten Covid restrictions as soon as one is detected.
But she also said that New Zealand will not impose the lockdowns that it has used previously, including for the Delta variant.
"This stage of the pandemic is different to what we have dealt with before. Omicron is more transmissible," Ms Ardern said. "That is going to make it harder to keep it out, but it will also make it more challenging to control once it arrives. But just like before, when Covid changes, we change."
She said that within 24 to 48 hours of Omicron being detected in the community, the nation would move into its "red" setting.
That would allow businesses to remain open and domestic travel to continue but would require schoolchildren to wear masks and limit crowds to 100 people.
Currently most of New Zealand is at the "orange" setting, which requires some mask wearing and proof of vaccination but does not limit crowd sizes.
About 93% of New Zealanders aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated and 52% have had a booster dose. The country has just begun vaccinating children aged between 5 and 11.
New Zealand has managed to contain the spread of the Delta variant, with an average of about 20 new cases each day. But it has seen an increasing number of people arriving into the country and going into mandatory quarantine who are infected with Omicron.
That has put a strain on the quarantine system and prompted the government to limit access for returning citizens while it decides what to do about reopening its borders, angering many people who want to return to New Zealand.
To get the latest email updates from WalesOnline click here.
