First Minister Mark Drakeford announced that hospitality businesses in Wales, such as pubs and casinos, will have to close at 10pm as part of new measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Drakeford said such businesses must only offer table service, with off-licences including supermarkets also prohibited from selling alcohol from 10pm.

The measures come into force at 6pm on Thursday.

Here follows a transcript of the televised address by Mr Drakeford:

“Noswaith dda. I am speaking to you this evening because once again, we are facing rising cases of coronavirus infections in different parts of Wales.

“And once again, we are seeing people being admitted to our hospitals with serious illnesses because of this deadly virus.

“In the weeks and months ahead of us, there is a very real possibility that we could see the virus regain a foothold in our local communities, towns and cities.

“Now, none of us wants to see that happen again. 2020 has been an incredibly difficult year. We have all sacrificed so much.

“Families have lost loved ones. People have lost jobs and livelihoods. This is a highly infectious virus, we cannot let it take a hold of our lives again, we have come too far to let that happen.

“This morning, the First Ministers of Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister and I agreed to take some further coordinated action across the United Kingdom to control the spread of the virus.

“Tonight, I wanted to set out the national actions we can take to keep our family and friends safe here in Wales.

“And because we have taken a different approach throughout, some of the actions being introduced elsewhere, are already in place here.

“We need to go on working from home wherever possible. That message needs to be followed by workers and employers alike.

“And only six people can meet indoors. While we make sure that those six people are all part of our single extended household.

“We need to wear face coverings, on public transport, in shops and in enclosed public spaces. And please think carefully about making journeys – only travel when you need to do so.

“The fewer people we meet and the fewer journeys we make, the safer we all are. Now to reinforce these measures, we will introduce some additional new national actions.

“To help people who are asked to self isolate, we will provide a £500 payment to support those people on low incomes to take that action.

“We will strengthen our regulations to ensure that employers support those who need to self isolate in this way.

“And we will change the rules for the sale of alcohol so that from Thursday at 6pm hospitality businesses in Wales including pubs, cafes, and restaurants, and casinos will have to close at 10pm.

“They will also have to provide a table service only. Off licences including supermarkets will also have to stop selling alcohol at 10 o’clock in the evening.

“Now in some parts of South Wales where we have seen the sharpest rises in cases, there are already even stricter local restrictions in place to protect people’s health.

“We now need to make that difference again across the whole of Wales.

“It is your efforts that have helped us to get through the first wave in the spring.

“You have followed the rules and help reduce the cases of coronavirus, protecting the NHS and saving lives.

“We now need everybody to follow the rules and guidance and to take the steps to protect them and their loved ones.

“Together, we can keep Wales safe. Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi gyd.”