ALL Covid restrictions in Wales should be lifted now, an infectious disease expert has said.

Professor John Watkins, a consultant epidemiologist at Cardiff University, has said the link between cases and hospitalisations has "definitely been broken".

He spoke to BBC Wales just days before the latest review of restrictions is set to be announced by First Minister, Mark Drakeford.

Professor Watkins, who is a Welsh and UK Government advisor, said that the success of the vaccination programme and general immunity levels meant it was safe to end lockdown - despite rising cases.

He told BBC Wales: "We've got a considerable amount of the adult population now vaccinated and we know that vaccination reduces transmission as well as reduces adverse events.

"And we know that in young people, where the bulk of infections are occurring at the moment, that actually they have got far less chances of adverse events, so I think we're at a reasonably good place to start opening up society.

"In the words of the Prime Minister (Boris Johnson), when would be the right time?

"It's always going to be a balance of risk, and I think we've protected the most vulnerable to this virus, and we've got good evidence that a significant proportion of the UK population has been exposed to the virus, or has antibodies to the virus, so actually we have a population that is reasonably well protected.

"The whole idea about shutting down society originally was around protecting the NHS, and I think the NHS is protected, as far as you can. So there comes a point where we have to start living with the viral transmission, and I think now is the time to do that.

"We need to recognise that the elderly, by and large, are protected."

Wrexham's seven-day infection rate has now grown to 320 - by far the highest in Wales, while Flintshire's is at 230 and is the second highest.

Wales' national infection rate is at 127.

However there are far fewer people in hospital with Covid-19 than during the first or second waves in Wales. There were three intensive care beds occupied with a Covid-19 case in Wales on Thursday, July 8.

Professor Watkins said the latest health modelling suggested Wales was following a "positive trajectory" despite the recent rise in cases.

He added: "In Wales, the numbers of deaths from people testing positive for the last 28 days have been no more than one or two a day, and many days without any [deaths] at all. Our hospitals are in a good place in terms of cases.

"Over the next couple of weeks, as we start to open up and this current surge of cases passes through, we'll see whether we're on the right course - but all the data suggests that we are."