WELSH Government have clarified what items are classed as ‘essentials’ for supermarkets and other retailers that can stay open during the newest lockdown.

Alert level four was brought forward on Saturday evening and is currently in place across all of Wales to combat a new, rising strain of the coronavirus.

As such, the toughest measures proposed by the Government state that retailers should all be closed, unless they fall into a category of shop that provides goods or services that are explicitly allowed.

Here is everything we know so far about what will be in place:

What shops are allowed to open at alert level 4?

All leisure, close contact services and non-essential retail is closed. This includes clothes shops, furniture shops and car dealerships among many others.

Shops that are required to close are still able to provide click and collect or home delivery services.

A full list of businesses NOT required to close include:

• Food and drink shops

• Pharmacies and chemists, including non-dispensing pharmacies

• Petrol stations

• Bicycle shops

• Hardware shops, shops selling building supplies and equipment, plant and tool hire

• Veterinary surgeries and pet shops

• Newsagents

• Off-licences and licenced shops selling alcohol, including those within breweries

• Laundrettes and dry cleaners

• Post Offices

• Vehicle rental services

• Car garages and repair shops, including MOT services

• High street banks, building societies, short-term loan providers, credit unions and cash points

• Agricultural or aquacultural supplies shops

• Livestock markets or auctions

• Shops offering maintenance or repair services for telephones or IT equipment

• Storage and distribution facilities, including delivery drop off points

• Medical services (such as dental surgeries, opticians and audiology clinics, physiotherapy clinics, chiropody and podiatry clinics, and other professional vocational medical services)

• Money transmission services, savings clubs, cash points, currency exchanges, and cheque cashing services to access or deposit money.

However, wherever possible people should avoid unnecessary visits to these, and use alternative approaches such as online services and deliveries.

Why are parts of supermarkets closed?

The reason for this is broadly the same as why some shops are closed, says Welsh Government.

To minimise contact with others, people should be doing everything they can to keep to a minimum the amount of times they leave home and the amount of time they are away.

If the products you wish to buy are not essential and are not needed urgently, you should not be making a special trip out to buy them.

You should either wait until alert level 4 restrictions are lifted or consider whether alternatives such as home delivery are available.

It would also not be fair to allow supermarkets to sell all those products, which are sold by other retailers that have been required to close. As shops selling electrical goods, for example, have been required to close, supermarkets should not be able to sell the same products they sell.

What restrictions are in place on alcohol sales?

Shops that are allowed to be open during alert level 4 restrictions must stop selling alcohol from 10pm and cannot begin to sell alcohol again until 6am the next day.

Online deliveries from supermarkets and other providers must not include alcohol after 10pm.

The intention of the restriction is to ensure that supermarkets (regardless of where their operations are based) are not supplying alcohol to customers in Wales at the point of delivery after 10pm.

Any retailers located within Wales but providing deliveries across the border to customers in England should follow the English regulations.

How far can I travel to shop for essentials at alert level 4?

Welsh Government are asking that people stay local to their home whenever possible.

Whilst there are no set rules on this, people are advised to avoid unnecessary travel and avoid crowded spaces wherever possible, particularly indoors.

Alternative approaches such as online services and deliveries should be used wherever possible.

Am I allowed to use “click and collect” services?

Unlike in earlier lockdowns, at Level 4 all shops can offer click and collect or similar services, whether or not they are required to close their premises.

Shops should:

• put in place picking-up and dropping-off collection points where possible, rather than passing goods hand-to-hand

• stagger collection times for customers collecting items

• design their click and collect system to avoid/ reduce shared contact surfaces

• continue to frequently clean any shared surfaces that are unavoidable and increase the use of hands-free technology to deliver their services

However, you should remember that you may only leave home to make necessary purchases and you should limit your journeys as much as possible.

It is stressed by Welsh Government that you should not travel long distances to access click and collect services.

Will checkout staff or police be going through my trolley to check whether the items I have bought are essential?

Welsh Government says that this shouldn’t happen and do not expect it to happen.

Individual stores will have their own processes for managing their arrangements for selling items that are not on general sale in exceptional circumstances and this includes closing parts of the store to the public. This means you should not have these products in your trolley unless you have already been allowed to buy them.

However, there is also an onus on you as a customer not to be looking to purchase products that are not on general sale unless exceptional circumstances (such as an emergency) apply.

Shops selling multiple items should, where reasonably practicable, separate or demarcate areas selling non-essential items.