Coronavirus Wales: Stag and hen dos may be ‘thing of the past’

End of Cardiff stag and hen dos? Welsh health minister says traditional pre-wedding jaunts should be a ‘thing of the past’ because of coronavirus risk

  • Vaughan Gething said stag and hen dos pose ‘much bigger risks’ than in past
  • Labour’s Mr Gething made his comments following a rise in cases in Cardiff 
  • Mr Gething blamed the spike on people not obeying social distancing rules 

Stag and hen does could be ‘things of the past’ for Cardiff due to the risk of spreading coronavirus among large groups of drunken revellers, Wale’s Health Minister warned.

Vaughan Gething said that while traditional pre-wedding jaunts were an activity he ‘may have enjoyed doing in the past’, they pose ‘much bigger risks now’.  

Labour’s Mr Gething made his comments following a rise in cases in Cardiff – one of Britain’s top stag and hen-do locations.  

He blamed the spike on people not obeying social distancing rules and on ‘indoor contact rather than outdoor contact’.

It was yesterday reported that 47 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Cardiff in the last seven days.

The cases – several of which were people aged between 20 and 30 – made up 37 per cent of all the positive tests results across Wales.

Stag and hen does could be ‘things of the past’ for Cardiff due to the risk of spreading coronavirus among large groups of drunken revellers, Wale’s Health Minister Vaughan Gething (pictured) warned

People from the same household or extended household are allowed to meet indoors at pubs and other hospitality venues in Wales.

But Welsh Government guidance states people should not gather indoors with anyone who is not a member of their household, unless they have a valid reason to.

Mr Gething said that people could ‘not to go out and socialise as normal’.

He told BBC Radio Wales: ‘So we’ve seen a spike in cases in Cardiff, it’s still relatively low,’

‘It’s another warning sign for us that the relatively low rates of coronavirus should not lead to people taking risks and ignoring the guidance and the rules that we’ve provided.

Gething said that while stag dos (file image) were an activity 'I may have enjoyed doing in the past', they pose 'much bigger risks now'

Gething said that while stag dos (file image) were an activity ‘I may have enjoyed doing in the past’, they pose ‘much bigger risks now’

Labour's Mr Gething made his comments following a rise in cases in Cardiff - one of Britain's top stag and hen-do locations

Labour’s Mr Gething made his comments following a rise in cases in Cardiff – one of Britain’s top stag and hen-do locations

‘I don’t want people returning to going on a pub crawl again, ignoring the advice about the number of people you should be going out to have a drink with.

‘Traditional stag and hen parties, for example, should be things of the past still, because that’s lots of people mixing, going out together.’ 

He also pleaded with would-be revellers to use ‘common sense’ so as to avoid a surge in virus transmissions. 

Mr Gething said: 'Traditional stag and hen parties (file image), for example, should be things of the past still, because that's lots of people mixing, going out together'

Mr Gething said: ‘Traditional stag and hen parties (file image), for example, should be things of the past still, because that’s lots of people mixing, going out together’

Mr Gething told the Welsh Government’s Covid-19 press briefing: ‘I remember my own stag event and people from different households, more than a dozen different households, going together to meet, to sleep in two different caravans and go out to a range of different venues.

‘That’s exactly what shouldn’t happen now because of the risks that we now face.

‘So it’s an appeal to our common sense in the way that we want to maintain the freedoms that we have unlocked, because actually if coronavirus goes up and we see a further upswing, we may end up having to roll back on some of those freedoms.’

Leave a Comment