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Seventeen more people have died of a coronavirus in Wales to bring the grand total to 925.
Public Health Wales also confirmed on Friday that 160 more people have tested positive for the virus, meaning 9,972 people have been officially diagnosed in laboratories.
Prime Minister Mark Drakeford spoke to the press on Friday afternoon to give the latest update on the situation in Wales.
He used the 30-minute briefing to focus on the “specific actions” being taken to help those most directly affected in Wales.
Drakeford announced that more than 64,000 welfare workers in Wales will get a £ 500 cash bonus each, at a cost of £ 32.2m.
He said the financial boost was designed to provide further recognition of the value that the Welsh government attached to what they were doing.
This map shows where the majority of cases have been reported in the last four days
It also called on the UK Government and HMRC to ensure that these £ 500 were tax and national insurance free.
“This group of people, usually women, are often not well paid, but they provide the invisible scaffolding of services that support the NHS and society at large,” he said.
“Without this small army of people, large numbers of people would not be able to continue living independently.”
Drakeford said a second flight with supplies of fluid-resistant coats from the NHS and the Welsh Government will land at Cardiff airport today.
He said this will include 500,000 dresses from China, which will provide much-needed supplies for health and welfare workers.
We made an early decision to supply PPE to all residences and care facilities in Wales from our own stock and at no charge to the residences and their owners, “he said.
“We deliver twice a week to make sure staff have the equipment they need to do their jobs and have the confidence they need to do their vital work.”
This chart tracks how the number of deaths reported each day in hospitals has increased and decreased
This table shows how the number of cases reported each day has increased and decreased.
This map shows where the deaths reported by Public Health Wales have been recorded:
This map shows where all cases have been seen since the start of the outbreak:
The prime minister echoed the words of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said Thursday that he believed the United Kingdom “had begun to overcome the peak of the virus.”
He said the number of people using critical care beds in Wales has decreased and that there is a “stabilization” of hospital admissions.
However, he added: “We believe we have effectively suppressed the coronavirus in the community, but whether we have done enough to lift the blockade will depend on the evidence we apply.”
When asked if “lockdown fatigue” was occurring, he said that people were “heroically, in their own lives, doing the things we asked them to do.”
But he added: “The police told us on Monday after last weekend that there was some modest evidence of ‘fraying at the margin’, and we saw that in urban Wales, rather than rural Wales.
“Therefore, it is very important that I tell people in Wales that the closure arrangements are still in effect. They apply to all of us and will continue to apply until next week.”
Drakeford admitted that he has not spoken to Boris Johnson “for several weeks.”
He said the couple had their last conversation before the Prime Minister was admitted to the hospital with coronavirus on April 5.
“He has had a very busy week since he returned to work and would not necessarily have expected to be at the top of his contact list this week.”
“In the meantime, we have had a lot of contact with other UK government ministers.
“What I think we have not had, and would have preferred to have seen, is a systematic pattern of contact with delegate administrations where we were able to share ideas, make sure we understand each other’s perspectives, contribute together to the work that is happening everywhere from the UK as we move towards decision-making on whether and when to get out of the blockade. “
When asked about deadlines for non-urgent procedures and resumption of care, Drakeford admitted that he wants the health service to do more of its routine work as they are not overwhelmed.
NHS Wales Executive Director Dr. Andrew Goodall has already written to health boards about cancer care and made sure he can sustain this during the outbreak, he said.
However, he said Wales will not be able to simply “turn the faucet back on” until it is certain that the coronavirus will not spread in the community again.
“It will be a careful balance,” he said.
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