Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales (2022) facts for kids

The following is a timeline of how the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales changed during 2022. Rules and how things were reported were different in Wales compared to England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Understanding the COVID-19 Pandemic in Wales in 2022

January 2022: New Year, New Challenges

• 1 January – Wales's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Frank Atherton, received a special honour (knighthood) at the start of the year. New Year celebrations were quieter than usual because of COVID rules and worries about the virus.
• 2 January – Data showed that 11,820 COVID cases were recorded on 27 December 2021. This was the highest number of daily cases for Wales at that time. First Minister Mark Drakeford said Wales would face a "very challenging few weeks" as the Omicron variant was expected to cause many cases. However, experts thought cases would drop quickly after peaking.
• 3 January – Morriston Hospital in Swansea warned that its emergency department was very busy because many staff were absent.
• 4 January – Up to 15% of NHS staff in Wales were off work due to COVID-related reasons. Even though the Omicron variant often caused less severe illness, the large number of cases put a lot of pressure on the NHS.
• 5 January –
  • Due to very high demand for COVID tests, Health Minister Eluned Morgan announced a change. From the next day, if someone tested positive with a lateral flow test (a quick home test) and had no symptoms, they would not need a follow-up PCR test (a lab test). They still had to self-isolate (stay home) for seven days.
  • The Welsh Rugby Union thought about playing some of its 2022 Six Nations Championship matches in England. This was because the Welsh Government had rules limiting how many people could attend large events.
• 6 January – First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed that COVID rules would not change yet. He warned of a "difficult month ahead" as cases reached 2,200 per 100,000 people. The number of shoppers in December 2021 was a fifth lower than before the pandemic.
• 7 January – First Minister Mark Drakeford said there would be no relaxing of COVID rules in Wales.
• 8 January – Businesses in Wales were worried about the economy if Six Nations rugby matches were played in England. They estimated each game could cost Cardiff £20 million. Sports clubs also warned that young athletes might stop playing if restrictions continued.
• 9 January – BBC News reported on Chester F.C., a football club whose ground is on the England–Wales border. The club was warned for having 2,000 spectators at games over Christmas, which was allowed in England but not in Wales. The club said it would struggle financially without spectators.
• 10 January – Schools across Wales reopened for in-person lessons.
• 11 January – First Minister Mark Drakeford said the Welsh Government would consider relaxing COVID rules the following week if the situation improved. About 10,000 NHS staff were self-isolating due to COVID, the highest number since April 2020.
• 12 January – Around 3,000 people with COVID had received antiviral tablets in a trial run by Public Health Wales, Health and Care Research Wales, and Cardiff University.
• 14 January – First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed that most COVID rules in Wales would be lifted over the next two weeks if cases kept falling. This would move Wales to "Alert Level Zero." Immediately, the number of people allowed at outdoor events increased from 50 to 500.
• 15 January – Sports clubs and Parkrun welcomed the rule changes allowing more people to gather outdoors.
• 17 January – Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said the rules introduced in Wales to fight the Omicron variant were helpful because they prevented more people from getting seriously ill.
• 21 January – Wales removed limits on how many people could attend sporting events. The "rule of six" (limiting groups to six people) for pubs and restaurants outdoors was also lifted.
• 23 January – First Minister Mark Drakeford said he would consider hiring NHS staff from England who lost their jobs for not getting vaccinated.
• 24 January – Care providers in Wales suggested they might hire a small number of unvaccinated staff from England.
• 25 January –
  • First Minister Mark Drakeford told people it was okay to take holidays abroad. This was the first time the Welsh Government had not advised against foreign travel since the pandemic began.
  • Scientific adviser Dr Rob Orford said the extra COVID advice in December was not an over-reaction. He hoped future lockdowns would not be needed.
• 27 January – Health figures showed that more than half of people in hospital with COVID were being treated for other conditions. Only 42% were in hospital specifically for COVID.
• 28 January – Wales shortened the self-isolation period after a positive COVID test to five full days, matching rules in England and Northern Ireland. Other changes included nightclubs reopening, the end of the "rule of six" in pubs and restaurants, and no more social distancing rules.
• 29 January – Professor John Watkins, an expert in diseases, was concerned about plans to let local authorities and headteachers decide on face coverings in schools. He thought this should not happen. The rules were set to change after the February half-term.
• 30 January – A report highlighted a lack of childcare places for disabled children, and how parents felt alone during the pandemic. The Welsh Government said it was working to increase these facilities.
• 31 January – Figures showed 551 people were in hospital with COVID on 28 January, a 20% drop from the previous week.

February 2022: Easing Restrictions

• 2 February – Some schools and one college tried a longer school day for ten weeks. They hoped this would help students catch up and socialise more after the pandemic.
• 4 February – A recruitment company in Cardiff planned to pay for its 55 staff members to have a four-day trip to Tenerife as a thank you for their hard work during the pandemic.
• 7 February – BBC News Online reported that many Welsh holiday resorts were fully booked for 2022, even though travel rules were lifted.
• 10 February –
  • The Welsh Government confirmed that about 53,000 care workers in Wales would receive a £1,000 bonus from April.
  • First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed that falling COVID cases meant rules could be lifted. COVID passes were no longer needed for entertainment venues, nightclubs, and large events from 18 February. The rule for wearing facemasks in schools and most public places (like cinemas, museums, and places of worship) was lifted from 28 February. Schools could then decide their own rules on face coverings. Rules for masks on public transport, in shops, hairdressers, salons, and health and social care might disappear in March.
  • Mark Drakeford tested positive for COVID.
• 13 February – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board encouraged vulnerable children aged 5–11 to get a COVID vaccine. They also offered vaccines to children in this age group if they lived with a vulnerable adult.
• 14 February – New data showed that 95% of hospital patients with COVID in some health boards were being treated for other conditions.
• 15 February – Wales became the first UK country to announce plans to offer COVID vaccinations to children aged five to eleven.
• 17 February –
  • Health data showed that 683,331 people were waiting for non-urgent surgery in December 2021. This was a record number and the 20th month in a row that records had been broken.
  • The Welsh Government announced that COVID passes for large events, nightclubs, and cinemas would be removed from the next day.
• 23 February – BBC News reported that Ceredigion, a town that made pavements wider and streets one-way during lockdown to help social distancing, decided to keep these changes.
• 24 February – The Welsh Government suggested that COVID and flu vaccines could be given at the same time in the autumn.
• 28 February – Facemasks were no longer required in classrooms and places like museums and cinemas. However, they were still legally required in shops, salons, hairdressers, health and social care settings, and on public transport.

March 2022: Further Changes and Pressures

• 2 March – BBC News online reported on "pandemic brain", where people experienced memory loss, tiredness, and difficulty concentrating due to changes in routine and uncertainty.
• 4 March –
  • The Welsh Government confirmed plans to stop free mass testing for COVID in Wales from the end of March. They set a provisional date of 28 March for all regulations to be lifted.
  • However, a leading business group, CBI Wales, asked the Welsh Government to continue providing free lateral flow tests and remove them slowly throughout the year.
• 6 March – Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the Welsh Government was hesitant to stop COVID testing but it would be hard to pay for once the UK government stopped universal free testing.
• 24 March – The Welsh Government confirmed plans to remove some COVID rules from Monday 28 March, even though case numbers had increased. From that date, face coverings were no longer legally required in shops and on public transport, but still needed in health and care settings. Companies still had to check risks in workplaces. All rules were supposed to end on 28 March, but the remaining rules were extended for three weeks, with a review planned for 14 April.
• 27 March – Teaching unions said that disruption from COVID in schools was as bad as ever, as they struggled with staff absences.
• 28 March – The planned lifting of COVID measures announced on 24 March went ahead.
• 29 March – Senedd members (Welsh Parliament) voted to approve the latest COVID law changes.
• 30 March –
  • Health Minister Eluned Morgan said Wales's NHS was under "extraordinary pressure" due to a rise in COVID cases.
  • COVID test centre staff in Wales said they were left without support after being given short notice that their jobs would end.
• 31 March – Health Minister Eluned Morgan warned that planned treatments across the NHS in Wales were expected to slow down because of COVID.

April 2022: Ongoing Impact

• 8 April – Headteachers were worried that students preparing for exams might be at a disadvantage after missing specialist teaching during the pandemic. 2022 was the first year exams were held since the pandemic began, as exams in 2020 and 2021 were replaced by classroom assessments.
• 9 April – Pharmacists were concerned about a shortage of lateral flow tests in Wales, especially in rural areas. They feared this would lead to people testing themselves less often.
• 13 April – The law requiring workplaces in Wales to take COVID-safe precautions was lifted from Monday 18 April.
• 20 April – NHS managers said the COVID situation in Wales was "relentless." Cases continued to affect the health service, even though people were not getting as seriously ill.
• 22 April – Figures showed that the number of COVID-related deaths in Wales had passed 10,000.
• 24 April – Health Minister Eluned Morgan said the NHS in Wales was under "immense" pressure but denied it was "broken."
• 25 April –
  • The Welsh Government prepared a plan to reduce the NHS backlog (long waiting lists). It was estimated that it could take until 2025 for waiting times for many procedures to be under a year.
  • Around 500 beds and mattresses bought for the Swansea Bay Field Hospital were donated to vulnerable people, including families affected by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

May 2022: End of Legal Requirements

• 2 May – Business experts in Wales said that companies struggling after the pandemic needed better access to small loans.
• 5 May – First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed that while face masks would no longer be required in schools, they would still be needed in health and care settings.
• 8 May – Services restarted at Soar y mynydd chapel, believed to be the most remote place of worship in Wales, after the pandemic.
• 9 May – Face masks were no longer required in schools in Wales.
• 13 May – The exam watchdog Qualifications Wales confirmed that students in Wales would continue to receive advance notice of exam content during the 2022–23 school year.
• 15 May – Children’s commissioner Rocio Cifuentes urged caution when fining parents whose children were absent from school. She said some children found it hard to adjust to being back at school after the pandemic.
• 19 May – From midday, daily reporting of COVID statistics in Wales ended. Figures were reported weekly from then on.
• 30 May –
  • Wearing face coverings in health and social care settings in Wales was no longer a legal requirement. This meant the last of Wales's COVID rules had ended.
  • A report estimated it could take as long as seven years to get hospital waiting lists in Wales back to pre-COVID levels.

June 2022: Recognition and Recovery

• 1 June – Several health workers from Wales were recognised in the 2022 Birthday Honours for their important work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

July 2022: Events Return

• 7 July – The annual Llangollen International Eisteddfod, a cultural festival, returned as a physical event for the first time since COVID. It celebrated its 75th anniversary, though it was a smaller event than before.

August 2022

• No events.

September 2022

• No events.

October 2022: Looking Back

• 5 October – First Minister Mark Drakeford said that those wanting a separate COVID-19 inquiry for Wales had "moved on." The Welsh Government clarified he meant they had "shifted their focus," and that a UK-wide inquiry could better examine decisions made by all four nations of the UK.
• 10 October – The 2022 BAFTA Cymru Awards Ceremony was held in Cardiff. It was the first in-person ceremony since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

See also

• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales (2020)
• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales (2021)
• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (January–June 2022)
• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (July–December 2022)
• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in England (2022)
• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland (2022)
• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland (2022)
• History of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom