'We can't afford another lockdown': Merthyr Tydfil market bustling again after 'firebreak' is lifted
One stall owner said he was "over the moon" as he welcomed a return to some form of normality following the 17-day lockdown.
Monday 9 November 2020 21:33, UK
In the Welsh valley town of Merthyr Tydfil - pints are flowing, the cafes are busy and the market is bustling again.聽
But it feels and looks strange.
Merthyr still has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 cases in the whole of the UK - at 505 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to 6 November.
Despite that, numbers are falling and Merthyr - along with the whole of Wales - is now out of lockdown.
"Over the moon - we need to get things back to normal," says Chris Jones, as he flips freshly made welsh cakes on the hot-plate at his stall, Bakestones.
His business has been shut throughout, and he welcomes a return to some form of normality.
Mr Jones continued: "We need to get the economy back up and running, we just can't afford another lockdown. We're all going to pay for it in the end and the quicker we get out of it, the quicker we can get back to normal.
"It seems to me it (COVID-19) has been travelling through the valleys. It started off in Newport, then Rhondda Cynon Taff and now Merthyr. I don't know what the answer is to stop it, or whether this lockdown has actually done any good, I'm not too sure."
Just how effective Wales' 17-day firebreak has been won't be known for a couple of weeks, and shoppers in Merthyr know this virus hasn't gone away.
One shopper tells me: "We're probably going to be living like this for a considerable amount of time, I don't think we're going to be out of this any time soon, so it might well be a change of living for us all."
Another said they don't understand why the firebreak has ended here and continued: "I don't know how we've come to the conclusion as to whether we are in lockdown or out of lockdown - it's so confusing."
The Welsh government hopes there won't be the need for another national lockdown before Christmas, but despite that an abundance of coronavirus caution is a worry for some shops.
Carole Newth works in the high street jewellery shop Jane Allen.
She said: "With the older generation - they don't want to come into Merthyr town now, I think people are more wary this time than the first time round."
For her, re-opening might not be enough to bring back Christmas trade.
"I think because we can travel within Wales again people will venture a bit further and not just stay in the high street."
Just how Christmas will look here in Merthyr Tydfil will depend on how successful the firebreak was - and how meetings between the Welsh government and Westminster go later this week, which will focus on creating a more unified approach across the UK for the festive period.