Downing Street refuses to rule out New Year lockdown as Northern Ireland joins Wales in post-Christmas shutdown Updated: 18 Dec 2020, 8:05 Invalid Date, DOWNING Street has refused to rule out a New Year lockdown after Northern Ireland joined Wales in agreeing to a post-Christmas shutdown. 4 Downing Street has refused to rule out a new year lockdownCredit: Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved 4 All of Wales is heading for a Level 4 lockdown after ChristmasCredit: Wales News Service It comes as Wales promised to slam the whole country into a three-week shutdown after the holidays following a spike in Covid cases. He said this lunchtime in a briefing to journalists: "We've been clear of the rationale behind the tiered regional approach and that's what we've set out for the time.