Masks in classrooms for Welsh secondary pupils and students

Welsh secondary school pupils and college and university students are being asked to wear face masks in classrooms as well as corridors and other communal areas.

Its because of concerns over the new Omicron variant of the virus , although there are no reported cases here yet.

Welsh Education Minister Jeremy Miles said it was a precautionary measure:

"With that uncertainty we're asking everybody in secondary schools, colleges and universities to wear face coverings indoors in classrooms and other communal settings. This is a precautionary measure which we are putting in place until the end of this term."

Booster vaccines are being expanded to everyone in the UK over 18.

Swansea Bay Public Health Director Dr Keith Reed explained why boosters were important:

"Boosting immunity with the current vaccines is thought to help provide some protection against the Omicron variant and there is a need to do that more quickly and more broadly than previous plans try and get ahead of the Omicron variant becoming established in the community."

Another 3 more cases of the Omicron variant of Covid have been discovered in Glasgow and the west of Scotland bringing the total in Scotland to 9.

2 of them are in Glasgow and another one in Lanarkshire.

The First Minister will be giving another update in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon.

In England new rules come into force today to help curb the spread of the new virus variant. It's a legal requirement to wear a face mask in shops and on trains and buses again there.