Sicker and poorer’ – harder, warns minister
comed the announcement.
“In this crisis, it is more important than ever that our frontline workers are adequately protected from this disease,” she said.
“These measures are not only for the direct protection of the workforce, but to slow the spread of the virus as much as possible.”
In total, 700 ventilators are available in Wales, with a further 1,000 potentially being acquired soon.
First Minister Mark Drakeford has insisted there is personal protective equipment (PPE) for “everyone who needs it”, adding it was being rolled out for those working in social care.
Mr Drakeford said further ventilators were being sought, with the veterinary sector in Wales offering ventilators that can be used to treat human patients.
“We are extending the number of tests we are able to carry out very rapidly from 200 a day at the moment to 8,000 a day within the next week or so,” he said.
He also paid tribute to those working to tackle the pandemic and praised key worker parents for making alternative care arrangements for their children.
Just 4% of schoolchildren in Wales attended school on Monday and the figure was also low on Tuesday, he said.
Leisure centres and other sites including rugby stadiums will be converted into spaces for additional hospital beds to support coronavirus patients.
Mr Gething said it was important there was the capacity for people who required treating in a hospital setting, and those who did not require it could leave.
“Equally, as we get to a larger scale in the progress of the pandemic, we have additional capacity for people to leave to go to step-down care,” he said.
“So the 350 Grange beds, they are not going to be critical care beds at this point – they are part of the stepdown arrangements.
Meanwhile, last night the Prime Minister said the UK is “coping very well indeed under the most challenging possible circumstances” in his daily press conference.
Boris Johnson said the Government was “massively ramping up” testing for coronavirus and it was hoped that “very soon” 250,000 tests would be carried out each day.
During the press conference, England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty dismissed claims made earlier by Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the National Infection Service at Public Health England (PHE), who said members of the public will be able to carry out coronavirus antibody tests at home very soon.
She said 3.5 million tests – which will tell people whether they have had the virus – would be made available and distributed via Amazon and in places like Boots.
But Prof Whitty said members of the public would not be buying these tests via the internet next week.
He stressed that frontline NHS workers would need the tests first so they could get back to work if they have had already had the virus.
The NHS is also carrying out separate tests to see if people currently have the virus, which are being given to patients in hospitals alongside some community sampling.
The Welsh Government has said it is working with Public Health England on getting testing kits in Wales.
Prof Whitty said there were shortages along many supply chains in the production of tests because “every country in the world is simultaneously wanting this new thing”.