Hundreds of people have flocked to a newly opened testing site in coronavirus-hit Rhondda – despite the area going into lockdown from 6pm this evening.
The testing centre, in Abercynon, South Wales, was set up for residents of Rhondda Cynon Taff amid a surge in coronavirus infection rates.
However, people from other parts of Wales and England have descended on the site, despite the area going into lockdown from 6pm on Thursday, with no one allowed in or out.
Ahead of its opening Rhondda Cynon Taff Council tweeted: ‘This will be walk-through only and available solely to RCT residents.’
But people told how they had been sent to the walk-in testing centre from more than 50 miles away amid the testing chaos gripping Britain.
At one point more than 200 people were seen queuing around the corner to enter the site.
One woman said: ‘I’ve come here from Swansea, it’s a long queue but at least I can now get a test.’
Over a hundred people queue for a Covid19 test at Abercynon Sport centre in Rhondda Cynon Taff
The huge queues come despite people not being allowed in or out of Covid-hit Rhondda after the local lockdown comes in at 6pm this evening
New rules being imposed on Rhondda Cynon Taf, which stretches from Cardiff to the Brecon Beacons, will mean residents can no longer meet other households indoors or have overnight stays
Other people told how they had booked tests from across the border in England – despite the supposed restrictions.
One woman said: ‘This was the nearest place available.’
New rules being imposed on Rhondda Cynon Taf, which stretches from Cardiff to the Brecon Beacons, will mean residents can no longer meet other households indoors or have overnight stays.
As in Caerphilly, no one will be allowed to leave the area without a ‘reasonable excuse’, which includes work.
Everyone aged over 11 must wear a face mask in shops, with an 11pm curfew coming into place on pubs and other licensed premises.
The local authority area’s incidence rate hit 82.1 per 100,000 people over the past seven days.
The increase goes well above the infection rate of 50 per 100,000 people marked as the threshold that saw nearby Caerphilly go under local lockdown on September 8.
Meetings between different households are still allowed to take place outdoors.
The Welsh Government said the new restrictions would apply to everyone living in the Rhondda Cynon Taf area.
Life coach Geraint Rees, 48 (left), is from a cluster 15 miles north of the cluster of new infections. He said: ‘We have been put into lockdown and that turns families and friends against each other because people are being encouraged to report anyone who breaks the rules. The local authority is recruiting enforcement officers, people are saying it’s like having Hitler youth about the place.’ Celia Mayes (right), who runs the Secret Spirit wellness centre in the town fears the new lockdown will have a devastating economic impact
However, the cluster in cases has been blamed on pubs – with the De Winton pub in Tonypandy and the Players Sports Bar in Pontypridd being closed by health officials.
Another cluster was reported at Penygraig rugby club and one more with a coach trip Doncaster races stopping off at a series of pubs on the way.
The stop-offs were so successful the party never actually made it to Doncaster, the Welsh government clarified tonight.
One town in the South Wales valleys is blaming ‘a few idiots’ for putting almost a quarter of a million people into lockdown.
Residents of Aberdare, 15 miles north of the cluster, say their community is Covid free and they are paying the price for people breaking the rules in their neighbouring town.
Carer Sarah Adams, 48,is from a town 15 miles north of the new cluster. She said: ‘It’s totally unfair – the problem is in the Rhondda Valley, not here. My partner lives 40 miles away in Carmarthenshire, it means we won’t be able to see each other’
John Gardner, 60, said: ‘The stats for Aberdare are very low – the cluster is 15 miles away and has been caused by a few idiots who wanted a day at the races.
‘The irony is they didn’t even get there – they stopped at so many pubs on the way up they had to return, bringing Coronavirus with them.’
Retired delivery driver Mr Gardner said the Government should only lock down areas where Covid-19 is rife.
He added: ‘Since the pandemic started I’ve only met two people who’ve had it but we are going back into lockdown and it doesn’t feel right.
‘We are carrying the can for people misbehaving elsewhere.’
The group who went on the ill-fated trip to Doncaster last week have been named and shamed on social media.
A rugby club near Pontypridd has been linked to another cluster after two people visited while waiting for the results of Coronavirus tests which later proved positive.
Officials of Penygraig RFC in the Rhondda have blasted the ‘highly irresponsible behaviour’ of the un-named pair.
Residents of Aberdare, population 31,000, said it was ‘unfair’ that the entire Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority area, population 240,000, was in lockdown from 6pm on Thursday.
Life coach Geraint Rees, 48, said: ‘There’s a mountain between us and where all this is going on.
‘The people who went on the trip to the races have been named on Facebook. There’s a lot of people not happy about it.
‘We have been put into lockdown and that turns families and friends against each other because people are being encouraged to report anyone who breaks the rules.
‘The local authority is recruiting enforcement officers, people are saying it’s like having Hitler youth about the place.’
Shop worker Mark Jones 45, said: ‘I think a trip to the races is irresponsible, especially so far away.
‘They blamed Cheltenham races for spreading the virus at the start of the lockdown and now the same thing has happened again. We haven’t learned.
‘I’m a bit miffed that the clusters are a long way from me but the whole area is being shutdown.’
Celia Mayes, who runs the Secret Spirit wellness centre in the town fears the new lockdown will have a devastating economic impact.
She said: ‘Things picked up when they lifted the last lockdown but it is very quiet here today.
‘It will seriously affect small businesses and shops if it carries on.’
Locals were out enjoying the September sunshine before the lockdown rules came in at 6pm banning people from entering or leaving the area without a reasonable excuse such as travel for work or education.
Carer Sarah Adams, 48, said: ‘It’s totally unfair – the problem is in the Rhondda Valley, not here.
‘My partner lives 40 miles away in Carmarthenshire, it means we won’t be able to see each other.
‘It is because people are back in the pubs and going from one pub to another. That’s why all this has happened.’
Announcing the lockdown Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething said: ‘There are a number of clusters in Rhondda Cynon Taf – two of which are significant.
‘One is associated with a rugby club and pub in the lower Rhondda and the other with a club outing to the Doncaster races, which stopped off at a series of pubs on the way.’
The Welsh Government has since stated that the day-trippers never reached the Doncaster race meeting.