Almost all Wales' Alert Level 2 Covid restrictions will be lifted in the next eight days.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said last week the plan was to lift restrictions by January 28.
He has now confirmed cases have dropped enough for some restrictions to be lifted from tomorrow, January 21, and almost all from the following week.
Read More: How the coronavirus rules are changing across the UK
It will mean that after January 28, the only rules in place in Wales are that everyone over the age of 11 has to wear face coverings in indoor public places, with the exception of hospitality venues.
Businesses need to undertake risk assessments and people must continue to self-isolate when they test positive. Covid passes will still have to be used for large events, cinemas and nightclubs.
The First Minister said the decision has been taken because the 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.
What will change?
From Friday, January 21
- Crowds will be able to return to outdoor sporting events
- There will be no limits on the number of people who can take part in outdoor activities and events
- Outdoor hospitality will be able to operate without the additional measures required introduced in December, such as the rule of six and 2m social distancing
From Friday, January 28
- Nightclubs will re-open
- The 2m social distancing rule in all public places and workplaces will be removed.
- The rule of six will no longer apply to hospitality, cinemas and theatres
- Licensed premises will no longer need to only provide table service and collect contact details
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- Working from home will remain part of advice from the Welsh Government but it will no longer be a legal requirement
- Businesses, employers and other organisations must continue to undertake a specific coronavirus risk assessment and take reasonable measures to minimise the spread of coronavirus
- Working from home will remain part of advice from the Welsh Government but it will no longer be a legal requirement
Wales had been at alert level two since Boxing Day. It meant caps on people meeting indoors and outdoors, hospitality must stick to rules about table service and have groups no larger than six, and has seen a ban on crowds at sporting events. Nightclubs were also forced to close their doors.
The restrictions were brought in over fears about the impact of the Omicron variant.
Now, the data shows the peak has passed, and health minister Eluned Morgan this week told the Senedd that Wales' restrictions had saved 69,000 people from getting Covid.
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests, for the seven days up to January 15, is continuing to fall down to 500.8 cases for every 100,000 people – which is down on the 529.7 recorded on Wednesday.
However these figures don't include people testing positive through LFT tests.
Data published today on lateral flow tests, which is updated weekly in Wales, show that there has been another slight increase in the the number of positive tests.
There were a total of 15,393 positive tests out of 383,021 tests carried out and registered.
The next review of the rules will be in three weeks, on February 11 when Welsh Government say it will review all the measures at alert level zero.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said: "The latest figures show we have passed the Omicron peak and we can continue to lift the alert level two protections as part of our careful and phased plan.
"We will lift the limits on the number of people who can gather for outdoor events. We remain cautiously confident the public health situation is heading in the right direction and next week we will be able to complete the move to alert level zero, unless the situation changes for the worse.
"We are in this position thanks to the efforts of everyone in Wales and our fantastic vaccination programme. It is important that everyone continues to follow the rules and the guidance to help keep themselves and their loved ones safe, including taking up the offer of a booster vaccine if they haven’t already done so."
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