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NEWS
‘Student Festival Fortnight’ brings student deals to St David’s Luthien Evans News Editor
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t David’s is set to hold an extended two-week sale event for students, similar to events held by the shopping centre in previous years. This year’s ‘Student Festival Fortnight’ will be held from September 21 to October 4 for students from across the city. Students will be able to save up to 20% on shopping and dining experiences at the shopping centre. The event, which in previous years has spanned a single day, has been extended to comply with Welsh Government guidelines which have recently been tightened to combat the rise in positive coronavirus cases across Wales. Adjustments have been made by St David’s to allow for proper social distancing measures, as well as accommodating the staggered return of students over the coming weeks ahead of the start of the Autumn term. The aim of the event is to allow for students to feel ‘sorted and organised for the start of term’, according to the St David’s website. This is made possible with sales across clothes, technology and food stores, with prices slashed for students that sign up on the St David’s website. Proof is needed of student ID from the online signup before the discounts can be accepted in store over the two-week period of the sale. Many of St David’s stores are getting involved. Clothing stores from The North Face to Victoria’s Secret are offering 20% off instore, with multiple stores offering varying discounts for those eligible. Restaurants are also getting involved, with Wahaca offering 20% discounts on meals, whilst Shake Shack are offering a buy one get one free meal deal. Once registered online, students are able to recieve discounts from stores across St David’s and will be automatically included in the prize draw. The ‘Survival Bundle’ includes prizes varying from Wagamama £15 vouchers to £100 John Lewis gift cards. As the Festival has been formed with COVID-19 precautions in mind, students will be able to shop on a budget, collecting the deals safely.
Shopping: St David’s shopping centre in Cardiff. Source: Seth Whales (via Wikimedia Commons)
Clwb Ifor Bach closes its doors due to COVID-19 The decision follows changes to Welsh Government guidelines
Tirion Davies Editor-in-Chief
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lwb Ifor Bach, the Live music venue and nightclub on Cardiff ’s Womanby Street announced on September 22 that it will close its doors indefinitely. The club, known by many as ‘Welsh Club’ because of its work with Welsh music artists and its appreciation of Welsh culture, was established in 1983 and has been a musical focal point in Cardiff since it first opened. Its mural by Mark James in celebration of Welsh singer Gwenno Saunders’ album ‘Y Dydd Olaf ’ is known by many across the city, and Clwb Ifor Bach was expected to receive many visitors following the easing of lockdown restrictions in August. Yet, since the recent announcements made by the Welsh Government regarding further restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the nightclub has decided to close for the forseable future. The new guidelines enforce a 10pm curfew on pubs and bars across Wales, and implemented the ‘rule of six’, meaning that patrons at bars, pubs and restaurants would be unable to congregate in groups of more than six, limiting the amount of capacity some establishments
may have. Clwb Ifor Bach, as with many pubs and clubs in Cardiff, were able to reopen in August for seating capacity, in compliance with Welsh Government guidelines. The club gave a statement on their social media pages, announcing, “we have unfortunately taken the difficult decision to close our doors once again. Although we are
confident the measures we have in place provide a safe and welcoming environment, the additional staffing costs associated with running a venue in line with the current guidelines coupled with the new restrictions on opening hours mean that it is no longer financially viable for us to remain open”. Clwb Ifor Bach confirmed that the closure would be temporary and
Clwb Ifor Bach: The club, with its distinctive mural, will close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: Llywelyn2000 (via Wikimedia Commons)
thanked the customers who had returned to the venue before its recent closure, but highlighted the “crisis” the events industry has faced since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since it was established, Clwb Ifor Bach has hosted numerous music stars, and prides itself on having been “an early platform for some of the biggest names in music today”. Such artists as the Stereophonics, George Ezra, Mark Ronson, Catfish & the Bottlemen, Foals and Coldplay have played at the venue over the years, with up-and-coming acts booking the club as its Welsh venue during tours across the UK. The temporary closure of Clwb Ifor Bach is not the first club in Cardiff to close since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but it one of few which has chosen to close voluntarily due to monetary reasons. Despite the setback, the club is optimistic it will reopen in a better position once the threat of the global pandemic has significantly lessened. With live shows lined up for 2021 and bands already booked for gigs, there is an expectation that Clwb Ifor Bach will eventually reopen at a later date, though it’s unlikely it will be soon given the current rate of COVID-19 cases in Wales.
23 Cardiff schools record cases of COVID-19 Schools across Cardiff have recorded positive cases of COVID-19 in September since the reopening of schools
Sam Portillo News Editor
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uring September, following the mass reopening of schools across Wales, Public Health Wales has announced that 23 schools across Cardiff have recorded cases of COVID-19. Infected staff and students were ordered to self-isolate at home for fourteen days, complying with Welsh Government guidelines, in addition to individuals who were in close and prolonged proximity with those infected based on a track and trace system. The two-week order covers the COVID-19 incubation period, so if people have not developed symptoms within that time, they are allowed to return to school and usual life. The incubation period is a requirement, and is aimed at halting the spread of COVID-19 to further, more vulnerable parties. Cardiff recorded 136 cases of COVID-19 from 14th to 20th September, an increase of 70 cases in comparison to the previous week. During this period, Cardiff had a positive test proportion of 5.7%, higher than the Welsh average. The Public Health Wales data from September 23 noted Cardiff had a positive proportion of 5.4%, lower than the previous Cardiff average, but higher than the Welsh positive proportion average of 4.5%.
Mount Stuart Primary School: The primary school noted that 60 pupils and 9 staff members were told to self-isolate after an incident. Source: Srsval (via Wikimedia Commons)
It is believed the return of students and staff to school environments and university students moving into shared accommodation have contributed towards this rise in numbers of the past few weeks which have lead to the lockdown of numerous Welsh counties. Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething reassured parents at the start of the month, reminding them that children are relatively safe from the disease and that they should continue sending their children to school. Mr Gething expressed, “Children and young people are much less likely to suffer harm and they are much less
likely to spread coronavirus as well. This is in direct contrast to the flu” There was much discussion regarding sending children back to schools before the announcement was made by the Welsh Government on July 9. Although children are relatively safe from the virus, they are more likely to infect more vulnerable members of society. Rather than “locking down” entire schools, the Welsh Government has told that it trusts the schools to keep a record of class groups, so only those who have been in prolonged proximity with the infected person might need to self-isolate.
At Mount Stuart Primary in Cardiff Bay, for example, 60 pupils and 9 staff members were ordered to stay at home after a single Year 1 pupil tested positive for the virus. If they are well enough to do work, self-isolating staff and pupils can make use of online learning technologies like Microsoft Teams and educational websites to complete work from home. With Cardiff now following its neighbouring counties and going under local lockdown, it remains to be seen whether the measures implemented will be enough to ensure that the children of Cardiff remain sage from COVID-19.
