IT’S BACK TO BUSINESS!
Shoppers return to stores across South Wales for first time since start of lockdown
FIRST Minister Mark Drakeford has defended the Welsh Government’s approach to keeping care home residents safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
On the weekend it emerged that 1,097 patients were discharged from hospitals to care homes without a test during March and April this year.
Care home owners said they felt pressured into taking in patients who had been discharged from hospital without knowing if they were carrying the virus or not.
Care Forum Wales claimed this lack of testing turned “safe havens into coronavirus warzones”.
Latest figures from the office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded up to June 5 show that nearly a third of the 2,317 deaths in Wales linked to Covid-19 were in care homes.
Speaking at a press conference from Cathays Park on Monday, Mr Drakeford insisted the Welsh Government followed the advice it was given at the time.
He said he did not have “the virtue of hindsight” when decisions on the Covid-19 crisis were being made.
“At every point we have followed the advice that we have been given about the right testing regime for people being discharged from hospital and going to care homes,” he said.
“Early in the pandemic the advice was to test symptomatic patients. Anybody who had symptoms was tested before they left hospital, and the advice early on was that the testing of people without symptoms would not have given useful outcomes that could have been used in making decisions about where people would be discharged to live.
“When the advice changed, we changed the practice. I think we changed our practice probably three times during the coronavirus crisis in relation to care homes.”
On April 29 the Welsh Government decided to test all people being discharged from hospital into Welsh care settings. Before this point it had only been those patients who had displayed symptoms.
And it was not until May 16 that all care homes were allowed to request testing. Until then it was only those that had seen previously confirmed cases.
When asked whether the Welsh Government’s decisions on testing were being driven by a lack of resources, Mr Drakeford added: “We have always, right through this process of coronavirus, had more tests available than we have used.
“So the decision was never based on fearing that our ability to test would be overwhelmed.
“It was always based on the advice we had on the way to make best use of the testing capacity, and in particular to direct that to care home residents and staff who were symptomatic, because at that early point in the progression of the disease - when the numbers in the community were rising very quickly - that was the best advice that we had.
“As a politician, what you can’t do is to pick and choose. You get the advice and you must act on it and that’s what we’ve tried to do.”
His comments came as non-essential shops across Wales’ town centres and high streets reopened for the first time since closing at the beginning of lockdown in March.
Following new guidance from the Welsh Government, stores such as clothes shops have opened their doors again, but with social distancing measures in place and restrictions to help minimise the spread of coronavirus.
As shoppers experienced the “new normal” for the first time this week, independent businesses across the South Wales Valleys welcomed back shoppers.
Customers in Ebbw Vale were starting to return to the town centre’s shops on Monday.
Carole Edwards and Denise Curtis own a card and gift shop in town and say they are grateful to be back after such a long time away.
Denise said: “It’s been nice to have the holiday, but to be honest we are more than ready to get back open for our lovely customers now.
“There’s still a few shops who have yet to open here but we hope they will join us soon, and people start to come back to Ebbw Vale to do their shopping.
“We’ve been really biting the bullet with the pandemic over the last few months, so today feels good for us to get back to business.”
Paula Janes has run her own Bath Bomb shop in the town centre for the last four years and says she is over the moon to be back after such a long time away.
She said: “We’ve opened back up this morning and it’s starting to get quite busy here in Ebbw Vale, so we’re very happy about that.
“Obviously we’ve had to adapt to the social distancing measures, so there was a bit of a rush to put in a perspex guard at the till, and a one way system around the shop.
“But this is just something we’ll have to get used to now and I feel ready to get back to a new normal.”
In Pontypridd, the town centre has already suffered a double blow this year.
As well as being hit by Storm Dennis in the winter, shops were forced to close their doors once more when the coronavirus lockdown came into force.
But while some remain closed, there were signs of hope on Monday as shoppers returned to parts of the town centre.
There weren’t many lengthy queues, apart from those waiting to go into the banks, but businesses started to open their doors once more.
One of these is Flowers by Design on Mill Street. Owner Eileen Pennington, 58, has run the shop for roughly 10 years.
She was one of the unlucky few who saw the devastation Storm Dennis brought when her business was left under water back in February.
On Monday she opened her doors to show off the new shop after its makeover.
Even though she’s glad to be back, she said she didn’t think it was too busy during her first day back.
“It’s still quiet really,” added Eileen. “It’s quiet because people are afraid to come out.
“You’re afraid to look at people, to be honest. I think it will be like that for a while.”
A short walk away at the indoor market, Richard Metcalfe, 58, has returned to his stall for the first time in three months.
Together with business partner Sara Langford, he runs Cortile Coffee that’s been based in the town for around three years.
Richard said: “It’s been very strange – it’s something that nobody has ever experienced.
“One day you’re shut – and you’ve been shut for three months – and the next day it’s back to normal and it’s as if the world has been on pause.”
He added: “It’s nice, it’s lovely – it’s good to see the customers. Even though there is a bit of anxiety with them, it’s still lovely to see them.”
On Taff Street, one of Pontypridd’s oldest cafes is still in the middle of a makeover following the floods – but it’s hoped The Prince’s will be back in business in as little as three weeks.
Owner Joseph Gambarini, 66, said: “I’m looking forward to opening the doors again and seeing all the familiar faces and to have a bit of banter...
“I never feel right until I’m with my customers.
“I always wonder how they are, how they are getting on and I look forward to getting back to some form of normality.”
And it’s been a similiarly bumpy road for Treorchy since it was announced as one of the shortlisted top high streets in the UK.
First the announcement itself was postponed due to a surprise general election. Then, after winning the title of High Street of the Year in the UK at the Visa Great British High Street Awards the town, and the Rhondda as a whole, was also subject to flooding and battering as a result of Storm Dennis.
Just a little more than a month later, the Champion High Street closed its shutters after the Covid-19 outbreak became more serious than any person on the street could have ever imagined.
Like many businesses around Wales, Treorchy’s shops – most of them independently run – adapted but Monday was the day that they were allowed to open their doors once more.
Simon Nedahl has run Villa Value – aka Roddy’s or Simon’s to its regulars – since 1992. The 51-yearold father of five was open at the start of lockdown, as it the shop falls under the hardware classification, but closed after being struck down with the coronavirus.
He’s reopened and looking forward to seeing his customers again, but would have given it another couple of weeks of lockdown if it was up to him.
The chatty bargain guru said: “I would have probably left it at least until the end of this month.
“It has changed my outlook for a bit. I felt I had a