days without any new coronavirus deaths, and four in total since 6 july. the first minister of wales announces that the wearing of face coverings will become compulsory on public transport in wales from 27 july. 14 july – wales's finance minister rebecca evans announces that the threshold on land transaction tax on property sales will be raised from £180,000 to £250,000 from 27 july until march 2021. it means the majority of property sales in wales will be exempted from the tax during this period. wales's largest accident and emergency unit at university hospital of wales, cardiff, tells non-emergency patients to call ahead before attending a&e; they will be assessed remotely and given an appointment time. 15 july – as the number of positive tests for wales drops to around 1%, the country's health minister, vaughan gething announces the implementation of a new "risk-based" testing strategy for wales. first minister of wales mark drakeford confirms to the senedd that driving lessons can resume in wales from 27 july. 16 july – wales's chief medical officer, dr frank atherton confirms the 130,000 people shielding in wales will no longer need to do so from 16 august. wales reports another day without any new deaths, its fifth over the last ten days. 17 july – first minister mark drakeford announces that the wales daily briefings will end and instead take place on a weekly basis. 18 july – wales reports no new covid related deaths for the fourth time in seven days. 20 july – playgrounds, outdoor gyms and funfairs are allowed to reopen under the latest easing of lockdown measures. 21 july – health minister vaughan gething announces that doctors and dentists in wales are to receive a 2.8% above-inflation pay rise. public health wales reports no new covid-19 deaths for the most recent 24 hour period. 22 july – public health wales publishes details of how several hundred people have been infected with covid-19 while in hospital, in what are termed nosocomial cases. welsh rugby union chief executive martyn phillips confirms no further international matches will be played at the principality stadium during 2020. 23 july – the welsh government announces that pregnant women can take a partner to antenatal appointments. the welsh government announces that no new free food boxes will be delivered to people shielding in wales if a second lockdown period is required. 24 july – public health wales records its latest day without any new covid deaths, meaning only one death from the virus has been recorded over the past week. first minister mark drakeford confirms that cinemas, museums and beauty salons can reopen from 27 july. 25 july – campsites with shared facilities are allowed to reopen. 27 july – beauty salons, tattooists, nail bars, spas, tanning shops, museums and art galleries are permitted to reopen. driving lessons can also resume. the wearing of face coverings becomes mandatory on public transport in wales. the welsh government scraps a law requiring remote work where possible, meaning it is no longer a criminal offence to not do so, but people are still advised to work remotely if they have the option. no new coronavirus deaths are recorded in wales. 28 july – staff and patients at hospitals in north wales are being "actively" tested for covid-19 following a spike of cases at wrexham maelor hospital. 30 july – first minister mark drakeford confirms pubs, restaurants and cafes can reopen for indoor customers from 3 august. 31 july – first minister mark drakeford confirms swimming pools, gyms, leisure centres and indoor play areas, including soft play can reopen from 3 august. children under 11 will no longer be required to stay two meters apart from each other or from adults from that date, and outdoor gatherings of up to 30 people will be allowed. august 2020 4 august – following testing conducted in wrexham, public health wales concludes there is "no evidence of widespread transmission" of covid-19 in the area. following the previous day's reopening of hospitality businesses, international relations minister eluned morgan reminds pubs and restaurants to collect customer details and maintain social distancing, and warns those who fail to comply could be forced to close again. 5 august – updated advice from the welsh government urges anyone with covid-19 to seek medical help if their symptoms have not improved in seven days. 6 august – the welsh government says it is working with authorities in gwynedd to maintain safety after concerns are raised by opposition politicians that the area is being overwhelmed by tourists. wales becomes the first part of the uk to place quarantine restrictions on travellers arriving into the uk from belgium, the bahamas and andorra, with the new rules coming into effect from midnight; they come into force at 4am on 8 august for the rest of the uk. 7 august – the welsh exams watchdog, qualifications wales, says that thousands of estimated gcse and a level grades will be lowered to account for teachers being "generous" and inconsistency in different schools. 10 august – gyms, swimming pools and soft play areas reopen in wales. a senedd inquiry has concluded that covid-19 had a devastating impact on the poorest communities, highlighting the inequality in society. 11 august – julie james, the minister for housing and local government, announces a £50m funding package to support housing projects in wales and find permanent accommodation for the country's homeless. 12 august – more than a fifth of covid-19 deaths in wales were among dementia patients, figures have revealed, prompting calls for the establishment of a dementia task force ahead of a potential second wave of the virus. 13 august – a level results are published. in wales 42% of grades are lower than estimated. public health wales reports another day without any covid-19 deaths. 14 august – the welsh government postpones the easing of rules for meeting up indoors from 15 august to 22 august; from then four households can form an extended bubble and meet up indoors providing the conditions "remain stable". up to 30 people may attend an indoor meal following a wedding or funeral from the same date. new powers are also announced requiring hospitality businesses to collect customers' details for contact tracing purposes from 17 august. 15 august – education minister kirsty williams confirms that students with lower than predicted a level results will be able to appeal the grades. 16 august – the shielding programme ends in wales; it is the last part of the uk to end its shielding programme. 17 august – the welsh government announces that a level and gcse results in wales will be based on teachers' assessment following an uproar over grades. wales records another day with no covid-19 deaths. 20 august – gcse results are published, the grades now based on teachers' assessments. more than 25% are a* and a grades, compared to 18.4% in 2019. 21 august – first minister mark drakeford announces that small-scale outdoor theatres and sporting events involving audience of up to 100 will be trialled, with three events to initially take place. as public health wales confirms 14 new daily cases of covid-19, the highest for 11 weeks, workers at a sky call centre in cardiff are self-isolating after a number of colleagues tested positive for the virus. 22 august – public health wales reports the first covid-19 related death for six days. porthcawl's annual elvis presley festival, scheduled for the end of september, is cancelled because of the covid-19 pandemic. 24 august – public health wales says that a reported rise in cases in cardiff is due to increased socialising. a total of 47 have been reported over the preceding week, most of them among the 20–30 age group. 25 august – research by the welsh government indicates that three quarters of tourism businesses have reopened since lockdown restrictions started to be lifted, but that at least half are not operating at full capacity. 26 august – the welsh government announces that it will be up to individual schools and local authorities to decide whether or not face coverings are mandatory for secondary school pupils. 28 august – figures from the office for national statistics show wales has one of the lowest covid mortality rates, with 75.7 deaths per 100,000, lower than every part of england apart from the south west. indoor visits to care homes are permitted, but the sector says guidelines have probably come too late for visits to resume over the approaching bank holiday weekend. 29 august – wales records no further covid deaths for the most recent 24 hour period, but 40 new cases are reported. 30 august – passengers on a flight from zante to cardiff on 25 august are told to self-isolate after a person on board subsequently tested positive for covid-19. south wales police say they have broken up an illegal rave at banwen in the brecon beacons, involving 3,000 people from around the uk; the organisers are fined £10,000. 31 august – public health wales reports no new covid-19 deaths, but 39 new cases. the airline operator tui launches an investigation after the number of passengers on a flight from zante to cardiff who subsequently tested positive for covid-19 rises to sixteen, and amid claims safety measures were ignored on the flight. september 2020 1 september – education minister kirsty williams announces that talks will be held between the welsh government and qualifications wales regarding whether to delay school examinations in 2021. travellers arriving into wales from zante are asked to self-isolate for 14 days after 16 passengers on a flight from the greek island tested positive for covid-19. 3 september – wales removes portugal from its quarantine exemption list following a rise in covid-19 cases in that country, with the new rules taking effect from 4am on 4 september. the greek islands of crete, zakynthos, mykonos, lesvos, paros and antiparos, as well as gibraltar and french polynesia are also removed. it is the first time the welsh government has set different quarantine rules to the uk government. 5 september – hefin david, member of the senedd for caerphilly urges people in the area to increase their social distancing to avoid another lockdown, after 62 new cases of covid-19 are reported in the preceding week. 6 september – lawyers express their concern about the delay in court cases in england and wales, with some 9,000 having been delayed since the start of lockdown, and warn that measures put in place to speed up cases may not be effective. a further 98 new covid-19 cases are reported, including 25 in caerphilly and 23 in rhondda cynon taf. 7 september – a further 133 covid-19 cases are reported, the highest daily number in wales since 30 june, with cases continuing to rise in caerphilly and rhondda cynon taf. residents of caerphilly county borough council are made subject to the first local lockdown in wales, which takes effect from 6pm on 8 september. health minister vaughan gething announces that mass testing has indicated community spread in the area, with the minister blaming the rise on individuals socializing in homes. as a result of the new measures, those within caerphilly council will have to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces, extended household arrangements will be ended, and travel restrictions will be in place to prevent travel outside of caerphilly without a "good reason". 8 september – as caerphilly county borough enters lockdown, council leaders in rhondda cynon taf warn there are just days to avoid similar measures being introduced there. 9 september – a hundred people are self-isolating after 14 covid-19 cases are linked to a sports club awards evening in carmarthenshire. carl cuss, a caarphilly county borough council cabinet member, resigns from his post after social media pictures appear showing him appearing to break social distancing rules. 10 september – hungary and the french island of réunion are removed from the quarantine exemption list from 4am on 12 september, while sweden is added to it meaning travellers from there will no longer be required to self-isolate. public health wales records a further 102 new cases of covid-19. cwm taf morgannwg health board, covering the south wales valleys, reports a doubling of hospitalisations through covid-19 in the preceding week, with 72