We're wrapping up our live coverage of today's Welsh Government briefing with Health Minister Vaughan Gething and the Public Health Wales update. So what have we learned?

• Wales was the only part of the UK where Covid infection rates were not falling at the end of November, he said
• Coronavirus cases in the Swansea Bay area could soon reach "catastrophic levels" unless people follow social distancing rules, an expert has warned
• The rollout of Covid vaccinations from tomorrow has brought "hope for the first time in a long time", a senior doctor has said
• School children are home-learning on games consoles and mobile phones, teachers have said, despite a Welsh Government pledge none would be "left behind" without digital devices during the pandemic

Until our next live blog, you can keep up to date via the BBC News website and social media channels.

Have a good day, and stay safe.

A further two people have died with coronavirus in Wales, with another 2,021 people testing positive.

Public Health Wales' latest figures show a total of 2,711 people have died since the start of the pandemic with 91,013 testing positive.

More than 1,500 people attended mass-testing centres in the first two days they opened in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Dr Kelechi Nnoaham, director of public health for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, said testing on Saturday and Sunday resulted in 17 positive results.

The centres were set up in the Lower Cynon Valley to help curb the number of Covid-19 cases.

The first mass-testing programme was opened in Merthyr Tydfil following a spike in coronavirus cases last month.

Latest figures published on Sunday showed Rhondda Cynon Taf had 377.2 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days, compared with an all-Wales average of 279.5.

People living or working in the Lower Cynon Valley - which includes Abercynon, Penrhiwceiber and parts of Mountain Ash and Aberaman - are being offered tests

Any disruption caused by Brexit could affect supplies of the coronavirus vaccine, according to Wales' health minister.

Vaughan Gething said work had been done to make "alternative arrangements" but that any disruption was an "unwelcome distraction".

"There is no getting away from the fact that disrupting our ports could disrupt supplies," he said.

Mr Gething said pharmaceutical companies had taken matters "into their own hands", and have planned to use different ports of entry.

He said disruption "may not happen on day one" of Brexit but "there's a challenge about longer term arrangements".

The UK left the EU in January but entered a transition period until the end of 2020 in which the trading rules remained broadly the same.

If a deal is not reached, from 1 January border checks and taxes will be introduced for goods travelling between the UK and the EU.

Image source, Getty Images

Students will be invited to return to university campuses in Wales over a four-week period, starting from 11 January, with a phased return to in-person teaching.

Priority will be given students in healthcare professions, on placements, or who need access to campus facilities.

Lateral-flow testing pilots, for students showing now students, will continue.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams said: “I know students will be eager to return to their university campus after the Christmas break, but will want to do that in a safe way.

“Students will also want to return to learning in person, where it’s safe to do so.

"We’re putting these measures in place to ensure confidence in a return to learning in-person and minimise the risk of large numbers of students needing to self-isolate during the term."

Image source, Reuters

Michelle Roberts
Health editor, BBC News online

UK hospitals are getting ready to start giving the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine now that regulators have approved the Pfizer/BioNTech jab for widespread use.

But while many people want an injection as soon as possible, others are worried about putting something unknown into their bodies.

So, how do we know a vaccine is safe?

Image source, Getty Images

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Schools in Caerphilly county borough will move to online learning from Thursday, 17 December for the final two days of the school term.

Chief education officer Keri Cole has written to parents and carers saying the council recognises the rise of cases in the county borough and the disruption children and young people have experienced to their education.

But she added that some schools may take the decision to close earlier than that, for example by rescheduling inset days.

“The local authority and school communities are absolutely committed to offering the best provision under increasingly difficult circumstances and we recognise how worrying this situation must be for you," Ms Cole wrote.

“I sincerely hope that you will enjoy a safe, family Christmas and that we will all look forward together to a new year.“

Neighbouring Blaenau Gwent council, serving an area with one of the highest Covid infection rates in Wales, has already decided to close schools after lessons on Wednesday, more than a week early.

The Welsh Government and council leaders across Wales have agreed a joint pledge to keep schools open until term ends on 18 December, only moving to remote learning "where it is proportionate to the prevalence and impact of the virus within the locality".

Here's a chart showing why Covid-19 cases are causing concern for health bosses in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

Swansea Bay health board director Dr Keith Reid said the local health system will be "overwhelmed" if cases continue to rise at the current rate.

There have been 800 new cases reported in the last two days in the region, he said.

Paul Davies, the Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd, said the hospitality sector needed help sooner rather than later to protect businesses and jobs over Christmas.

Pubs in Wales have been banned from serving alcohol and ordered to close at 18:00 GMT, other than for takeaways.

Barrels of beer were poured down drains on Friday as the hospitality industry prepared for the alcohol ban to come into force.

First Minister Mark Drakeford has previously said firms hit by the restrictions would be offered £340m in support which he claimed was "the most generous package of financial assistance anywhere in the UK".

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price has said the Welsh Government has struggled to communicate with the public over the actions taken to tackle coronavirus.

“I’m not sure that they're taking the public with them, and there's no clear road map, if you like, which takes us from now to where we're going to be in the spring," he said.

Mr Price said there should have been “a compromise” with less strict hospitality rules which has seen pubs banned from serving alcohol and ordered to close at 18:00 GMT, other than for takeaway service..

“It's absolutely essential you take the public with you, step by step, and also give them a sense that you know the way forward over the next three to four months, and that's what's lacking, I think, at the moment," he said.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething has confirmed ministers were considering whether any new restrictions would be needed after relaxation for a five-day window allowing family get-togethers over the holidays.

Schools in Wales should remain open as planned up to the Christmas holiday, said Health Minister Vaughan Gething.

He said there was no current Covid evidence to show that there was “significant harm” in keeping schools open.

Mr Gething said school was a “safe place” for vulnerable children and a shut-down would disproportionately affect the least well-off.

Blaenau Gwent council, serving an area with one of the highest Covid infection rates in Wales, has decided to close schools after lessons on Wednesday, more than a week early.

The decision comes despite a pledge from the Welsh Government and council leaders across Wales to keep schools open until term ends on 18 December.

Image source, PA Media

Vaccines will not be delivered to care homes in Wales on Tuesday, Health Minister Vaughan Gething has confirmed.

There had been concerns surrounding the transporting of the vaccines to care homes due to the very low temperatures needed to store the vials.

Mr Gething said conversations had taken place with manufacturer Pfizer and the regulator "to understand how we can safely and lawfully deliver this vaccine to care homes" but he stressed: "That won't be tomorrow."

Whilst other parts of the UK have said they hope to deliver the vaccine to care homes before Christmas, Mr Gething said he wanted to give "a rather more definitive date than that".

"At present those conversations with the regulator are not complete," he said.

"So I'll follow the priority list given by the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) with that important caveat that, at this point, and certainly tomorrow, we won't be able to deliver the vaccine to care homes.

"But we will vaccinate in accordance with those priorities, not in the first batch but, of course, the subsequent batches we expect to get through the month of December."

Choices made by the public will influence how many people die of Covid over the Christmas period, according to Health Minister Vaughan Gething.

He confirmed ministers were considering whether any new restrictions would be needed after relaxation for a five-day window allowing family get-togethers over the holidays.

“We’re in very odd position of a much more contested environment, and rising harm being seen,” said Mr Gething, referring to new Covid infections.

“We know that this is much more about the choices we’re making about who we see, how long we see them for.

“We’re actively considering each day whether the measures we have are the right ones in place or not.

"We’re committed to review the regulations in the next week and a half or so and we will then have to consider what we do... we’re actively considering what we are going to need to do, what we may need to do after the Christmas period.

“So, if we’re going to be able to get through not just to the end of the year but into the next year with the minimum amount of harm, it’s not just the choices we make in government, it’s the choices each of us make about how we’re living our lives that will determine how many of us are here in the New Year and beyond.”

Self-isolation payments in Wales are to be extended to include some parents and carers on low incomes of children who have to self-isolate.

The £500 payment has been available to help people on low incomes and as a statutory sick pay top-up to social care workers who have to self-isolate.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething told a Welsh Government briefing it will be extended from next Monday to include parents and carers on low incomes of children who have to self-isolate because of an outbreak of coronavirus at their school or childcare setting.

"This will provide parents and carers on low incomes with the financial support they need while they look after their children," he said.

Image source, Cartwright family

Having a vaccination against coronavirus will not be mandatory, according to Public Health Wales.

It says people will be able to choose whether they take it or not, but it warns "it will be offered to those who are most at risk first", external.

Front-line NHS staff will be the first to get the Pfizer/BioNTech jab when it is rolled out from tomorrow.

There are now more than 1,800 coronavirus-related patients in hospitals around Wales, the highest number since the pandemic began, according to the health minister.

Vaughan Gething said Wales was the only part of the UK where infection rates did not appear to be falling in the last week of November, according to an ONS infection survey.

He said it reflected the tighter measures elsewhere in the UK at the time.

Mr Gething said the government strengthened coronavirus restrictions in response to this “very serious situation” on Friday in a bid to slow the spread of the virus and to protect people’s health.

“But, just like the firebreak period, we will not see the impact immediately – it will take a couple of weeks”, he added.

Image source, NHS Wales

Image source, Getty Images

Wales was the only part of the UK where Covid infection rates were not falling at the end of November, the health minister has said.

Vaughan Gething said it reflected tighter UK restrictions elsewhere.

But he said if there is not a reduction in NHS Covid admissions "we will need to consider what action we can take".

The coronavirus case rate overtook England's on 23 November - and Wales had a higher death rate in the week to 1 December.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething says the situation with Covid in Wales remains “very serious”, with cases rising in 19 of the 22 local authority areas.

He told the Welsh Government’s coronavirus briefing: “Our health service is under considerable and sustained pressure because of the number of people who need to be admitted to hospital for treatment for coronavirus."

Mr Gething said the latest data shows that the all-Wales case rate is almost 70 points higher than it was on Friday.

“This shows you how just fast coronavirus is spreading," he said.

Mr Gething said there were eight local authorities with rates higher than 400 cases per 100,000 people – four times as many areas as on Friday.

“Sadly, we are seeing a return to the very high rates of more than 500 in Blaenau Gwent and 600 in Neath Port Talbot," he added

Image source, JAGGERY / GEOGRAPH

Local health and social care services could be "overwhelmed" by an increase in coronavirus cases in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, according to the director of public health for Swansea Bay University Health Board.

Dr Keith Reid said Neath Port Talbot hit "record" levels of Covid-19 infection rates with 622 cases per 100,000 population in the past week, with 446 cases per 100,000 population in Swansea.

There were 800 new cases reported in the last two days alone in the Swansea Bay region, he said.

'We have a chance to stave off a potential catastrophe but we all have a role to play," he said, in a statement, external published by the health board.

“If infections continue to rise at the current rate then, without another lockdown before Christmas, the local system will be overwhelmed.”

Public Health Wales is due to publish the latest overall figures for coronavirus cases in Wales later on Monday.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething is about to give a Welsh Government update on the pandemic.

You can watch proceedings live on BBC One Wales, S4C, the BBC iPlayer, and via the Wales Today Coronavirus Update video link above.