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The number of people who died with laboratory-confirmed coronaviruses exceeded 1,000, the latest figures revealed.
Public Health Wales (PHW) has reported that 26 more people have died after being diagnosed with the virus to bring the total to 1,023.
The body also confirmed that 10,669 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 since the outbreak began after a 145 increase on Tuesday.
However, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which, unlike PHW, include deaths in nursing homes and the community, have shown that by April 24 there were already 1,376 virus-related deaths in Welsh.
This map shows the areas of Wales with the most cases in the last week
Health Minister Vaughan Gething spoke to the press at Cathays Park, Cardiff to give the latest update on the situation in Wales.
He confirmed, before official numbers were released, that Covid-19 had played a role in claiming more than 1,000 lives in Wales.
“This is not just a number, but a grim milestone and a clear reminder of what we are collectively fighting for,” he said.
But Mr. Gething emphasized that “everything we are doing,” including social distancing and hand hygiene, was helping to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and prevent more families from facing “devastating pain.”
He admitted that virus transmission will continue until an effective vaccine is introduced or there is sufficient acquired immunity in the population.
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
The minister added that “there were no simple solutions” or quick solutions to allow us to quickly ease the restrictions.
But he stressed that the Welsh Government was “very aware” of the impact of the restrictions on people, businesses and the economy.
He said a vital part of easing the restrictions will be the Welsh government’s public protection plan for “an effective testing, tracking and tracing program.”
“Our public protection response plan will establish how we will use digital technology and more traditional contract tracking methods to identify and contain the spread of Covid-19 here in Wales,” he said.
“And this is a very ambitious plan and it will require that we all work together.”
He then added that contact tracing, which was already used during the early phase of the disease to contain its spread, will require a “large and dedicated workforce” with local tracking equipment and technology.
“The data will be published so that everyone can see the progress we are making,” he added.
Gething also warned that people may face repeated 14-day quarantine periods as the next phase of dealing with the coronavirus outbreak continues.
He said the scale of the challenge was “extraordinary” and said that while the government had already asked the public a lot “we will have to ask even more if this plan is successful.”
“People may have to be quarantined for up to 14 days and, to keep us all safe, they may have to do this more than once,” he added.
In order to improve sampling and testing rates, Gething said there will be an expansion of Covid-19 transit centers, mobile test vans and home testing “in the coming weeks.”
He added that access to timely and accurate test data will also be very important in the recovery phase.
“That is why, from the outset, we insisted that centers built in Wales by the UK Government and Deloitte use tests that could be processed in Wales to ensure that we retain data for use in our NHS and for individuals to the ones we serve. “
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According to a leaked preliminary report from Public Health Wales, Wales may need to perform 30,000 coronavirus tests per day.
But that figure was downplayed by the health minister during the press conference.
“Scotland announced its own plan yesterday with 15,500 tests a day they believed they needed by the end of May,” he said.
“If we have the same ratio of that, then it’s actually less than 9,000 tests that you would have here in Wales.”
This table shows how the number of diagnosed cases has fluctuated every day.
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When asked if Wales will participate in the use of a tracking application being tested in England, Gething said: “We are directly interested in the trial taking place on the Isle of Wight.”
“We have Welsh government officials participate in some of the supervisory arrangements to report what comes from that and to understand the data that is provided.”
Gething added that it has raised privacy and data management concerns from the Welsh point of view, but suggested that it might be possible to modify its use in Wales to ensure that the data is available to us and sent to the Welsh NHS.
“If those problems can be overcome then you would have to ask why Wales would not want to be a part of that,” he said.
The minister said on the issue of wearing face masks in public, the Welsh government will make a “quick decision” if it receives advice that they are necessary. He said it’s a matter of the medical director exercising professional judgment based on the range of evidence.
Meanwhile, after a refinement of the medical criteria for armor, the Welsh government confirmed that approximately 21,000 patients had been added to the ‘Welsh Armored Patient List’, bringing the recommended number to protect in Wales to approximately 121,000.
The government council says: “In line with the initial 12-week protection notice issued in late March, the latest letters advise people to protect themselves until at least June 15, 2020.”
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