HOW WALES IS PREPARING FOR SECOND WAVE OF CORONAVIRUS

Wales is preparing for the possibility of a second coronavirus spike this year.

First Minister Mark Drakeford spoke about some of the things being done by NHs Wales to prepare for the possibility of this.

speaking at the daily Welsh Government press conference on Monday, Mr Drakeford said it is “impossible to predict” where Wales will be by the autumn.

But he said: “Our Chief Medical Officer very regularly says to me that we cannot for one moment afford to set to one side the risk there will be a second spike in coronavirus and therefore we have to prepare for the day that might be the case.”

Mr Drakeford gave three examples how NHs Wales is preparing for a second spike. Firstly, Mr Drakeford said the Welsh Government is reviewing the capacity of field hospitals. He said the way the first wave was managed meant Wales did not have to use most of this capacity.

“Does that mean we should now shut it all down? No. We still need to preserve some of that extra capacity is available to us should that be needed in the autumn,” he said.

It comes as the 1,500-bed field hospital at the Principality stadium in Cardiff was recently downgraded to standby status with most staff deployed elsewhere. at its peak, the maximum number of patients being treated was 34. In his second example, Mr Drakeford said health boards in Wales are taking the opportunity while the number of coronavirus cases are low and falling to train more staff to deploy them in critical care if there was to be a surge.

alongside the coronavirus measures, Mr Drakeford said they are also preparing for the flu season this autumn.

If there is a second wave of coronavirus it will be just as flu is rising, he said.

“Coronavirus this time began to take hold just as the risk of flu was receding. If there is a second wave it’ll be happening just as the risk of flu is rising.”

The First Minister said they will now need to think about a campaign to get more people to take the flu vaccine and take it earlier in the season so they can minimise the pressure on the NHs.

The next review of lockdown restrictions in Wales will be around June 19.