bbc news reports on the plight of gym owners, many of whom fear losing their livelihoods with further restrictions. 18 december – dr giri shankar of public health wales suggests further restrictions could be needed to curb the "tsunami" of omicron variant cases. 19 december – first minister mark drakeford rejects criticism that he is "gambling" with the livelihoods of nightclub owners with plans to close nightclubs again from 27 december. 20 december – non-urgent operations, procedures and outpatient appointments are being postponed in north wales so the nhs can focus on giving covid vaccines. a further 163 omicron cases are recorded in wales, taking the total to 435. 21 december – the welsh government announces the levy of fines on employees and employers if people are not remote working without a good reason, effective from monday 27 december. workers will receive a £60 fixed penalty fine while employers will receive a £1,000 fine for each breach of the rules. 23 december – the welsh government confirms that people in wales who test positive for covid will still need to self-isolate for ten days, and that it will not be following rule changes brought in for england that saw the period reduced to seven days. in his christmas message, andrew john, the archbishop of wales, thanks nhs staff for showing "selfless love" during the pandemic. 26 december – with wales facing renewed covid restrictions, the welsh retail consortium urges the welsh government to give everyone in wales £100 vouchers to spend in local shops as a way of helping the economy, similar to a scheme that was implemented in northern ireland. wales moves to covid alert level 2, where restrictions on the number of people at social gatherings and two metre social distancing return. 27 december – bbc news reports that new covid restrictions for hospitality sector businesses have left people confused, while others are staying away. 28 december – welsh hospitality businesses fear losing new year custom to venues across the border in england because of tighter covid rules in wales, bbc news reports. 29 december – deputy chief medical officer dr chris jones says the omicron variant is now the dominant covid variant in wales, with an additional 12,000 cases reported over the christmas holidays. health secretary sajid javid criticises the welsh government's decision to ban outdoor mass exercise as disproportionate and unjustified after parkrun events were cancelled in wales. 30 december – wales moves forward by several days its plans to cut the self-isolation period of anyone testing positive for covid from ten to seven days. a negative test will be required before the self-isolation period can be ended, with the changes coming into effect from new year's eve rather than 5 january 2022 as originally planned. the welsh government announces that wales will lend england four million lateral flow tests to help with the current shortage of tests being experienced by england.