The head of South Wales Police says officers will be patrolling parks, beaches and forestry to ensure people are not breaching restrictions during the coronavirus crisis.

Chief Constable Matt Jukes said he was confident people were following guidelines over staying at home.

However he is concerned domestic violence is going unreported during the lockdown following a decline in calls.

The force currently has 13% of staff ill or self-isolating but said it was still offering their core service to the public.

There have been 180 new cases of coronavirus and six further deaths since yesterday, Public Health Wales has said.

It brings the total number of deaths in Wales to 34, out of 921 cases.

Of the new cases, 74 are in the Aneurin Bevan health board area (Gwent), 20 in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area (north Wales) and 38 in Cardiff and the Vale.

Dr Robin Howe of PHW said: "We offer our condolences to families and friends affected, and we ask those reporting on the situation to respect patient confidentiality.

“We realise how important it is to keep people updated, and we can confirm that around 5,000 Coronavirus tests have so far been carried out in Wales."

The Royal Mint in Llantrisant is making protective visors in the fight against coronavirus.

Engineers created an approved medical design in just 48 hours.

The first visors are already in use in hospitals in south Wales.

It will begin mass manufacturing for the NHS next week.

Royal Mint operations director Leighton John said: “On Wednesday at 9am we knew nothing about medical visors.

"But we set our engineers the task of developing essential medical equipment which could be easily made on site.

"Within seven hours they’d created a medical visor, and within 48 hours it was approved for mass manufacture.

"We’ll shortly post the specifications on our website to enable other firms to make them too.

“We are now developing the production line, and urgently calling for help to source 1.0mm PET clear plastic which is in low supply across the UK.”

Image source, Royal Mint

Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris and 33 women's rights organisations have written to major hotel chains in the UK asking them to offer beds to domestic abuse victims trapped during the lockdown.

In their letter, the group warned of the risk of an "epidemic of abuse" as victims are forced to stay indoors because of home-working, self-isolation and, in some cases, a reduction in job hours.

They say domestic abuse rates have tripled in China since the lockdown began there.

"[Hotels] can make a difference to some of the most vulnerable women who otherwise have no-one to turn to for security, comfort and support," the letter reads.

Signatories include the Jo Cox Foundation.

A farmer and his 500 sheep thank NHS staff for their work, calling them "superheroes".

Health service workers are "frightened and anxious" because they lack coronavirus safety equipment.

Unison Cymru Wales regional secretary, Tanya Palmer, said: “Health and care staff across Wales are extremely concerned about the provision of personal protective equipment.

“They are frightened and anxious that it is not yet in place, placing them and their families at risk.

"This is adding to what is already a stressful working environment."

Ms Palmer said this risked spreading the virus among staff.

“Employers must do more to ensure staff at the forefront of the fight against the virus are as safe as possible," she said.

Image source, Getty

Bluestone holiday resort is becoming a recovery centre for Covid-19 patients.

CEO William McNamara, said the action at the Pembrokeshire business was being taken in "previously unimaginable circumstances."

"It’s vital we come together to support each other – as family, as friends and as a community.

"It is right that Bluestone is utilised in this time of great national need. We all want – and need – to do whatever we can to make a difference and contribute to tackling the unfolding coronavirus emergency."

Hywel Dda University Health Board medical director, Dr Phil Kloer, said: "Delivering these additional beds for patients will therefore be essential to help us manage patient flow over the coming weeks."

Iceland boss Richard Walker has felt like he is on "the front line in a war" because of coronavirus.

The managing director of the Deeside-based chain said the firm had a million pairs of gloves arriving on Saturday for staff, with masks on the way.

He told Radio 4's Today programme: “We’ve always called our store teams frontline colleagues but I suppose in the last two weeks we’ve really felt on the frontline in a war.

"And, of course, to me their safety is absolutely paramount."

The business was enforcing social distancing rules and installing protective screens at tills.

“It is a reality of any shop worker’s daily life at the moment that they are facing customer abuse and frustration around lack of stock or availability, that sort of thing," Mr Walker said.

“There’s a lot being asked of us."

Anglesey council is shutting services to protect staff from coronavirus.

Chief executive, Annwen Morgan said, said the action was being taken in “unprecedented times" where the authority faced "numerous challenges."

"It is clear that we will not be able to provide all of our services in the same way and I would ask residents to bear with us,” Ms Morgan said.

“Our focus remains on maintaining essential services whilst protecting staff."

The council is working with the Welsh Government, North Wales Police, health services, voluntary and third sector partners to support the most vulnerable.

Ms Morgan said: “We have set up an emergency response team to coordinate activities as the situation is constantly changing."

Rodney Parade in Newport is to become a rapid testing centre during the coronavirus outbreak.

The venue, home to Dragons and Newport rugby teams as well as Newport County FC, is to be used as a drive-through facility to test frontline NHS staff.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said the centre would help get staff back to work.

“The health and well-being of our staff is essential for delivering services for the people of Gwent,” the health board said in a statement.

“We are operating an internal process to assess our staff that are showing symptoms of the virus and booking them in for an appointment for testing.”

Dragons managing director Mark Jones said: "The health service and care workers are doing an incredible job so we are happy to offer our help and support in any way we can.”

The Pro14 rugby season has been suspended indefinitely and the June final, due to have been held in Cardiff, cancelled.

Farmer Llyr Derwydd has posted a Twitter video of his sheep baa-ing for the NHS.

Standing Bob Dylan style with a series of paper signs he shakes a bag of food to prompt the animals to make some noise.

'"Thank you, diolch, superheroes," Mr Derwydd, of Conwy, said using three signs.

Youngsters are still hanging around in Newport despite coronavirus, it has been claimed.

Gwent has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Wales.

Newport councillor Alan Morris said: "I'm still getting reports of youngsters hanging around on streets.

"I've seen youngsters fishing this morning. This isn't a game. This is very, very real."

Conwy's medieval town walls have been closed because of coronavirus.

A sign attached to the gate explains the situation.

Image source, Getty Images

Ralph Lauren is to start making medical masks and gowns - the latest designer brand to lend its support to the coronavirus fight.

The fashion designer announced the shift in production through its charitable arm on Thursday.

The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation will start making 250,000 masks and 25,000 isolation gowns in the US.

Read more here

House buyers are pulling out of sales and people are “sleeping on sofas” because they cannot move into properties, an estate agent has claimed.

Tim Goodwin, of Williams & Goodwin, which has branches across north Wales, said the housing market will “stop.”

He expects the situation to remain the same for the next six months.

Mr Goodwin said: “We have got situations in our company already where we have got people who are in effect sleeping on sofas at the moment, waiting to move into properties that the tenants have not checked out of.”

He said properties could be viewed over the internet but this was unlikely to secure a sale.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spoken on Twitter about testing positive for Covid-19.

Image source, AFP

We’ve read a lot about the race to improve and speed up testing. Maybe, man’s best friend could help.

A British charity has teamed up with scientists, external to see whether dogs could help detect coronavirus with their good sense of smell.

Previous research has suggested dogs can indeed sniff out malaria, so the group Medical Detection Dogs said it would work with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Durham University to see if that would work for Covid-19 as well.

The charity has previously trained dogs for illnesses such as cancer, Parkinson's and bacterial infections by sniffing samples taken from patients.

"The aim is that dogs will be able to screen anyone, including those who are asymptomatic, and tell us whether they need to be tested," the charity's chief executive Claire Guest, said.

Image source, PA

Staff at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) claim social distancing is "nearly impossible" at its headquarters and a "general feeling of fear" exists throughout the building.

Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris says she has been inundated with “hundreds” of complaints from many of the 770 employees at the Swansea office.

A letter from the DVLA to its staff, seen by BBC Wales, said they were classified as key workers, though they are not by Swansea council.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union said in a letter to member it believes there are still a “large number of staff on site who should not be there” because their work is not critical.

The DVLA said: “Our priority is to keep our staff safe but we also have an essential role to play in keeping the country moving.

"This means some staff are on site, for example, where our focus is to help keep HGV drivers and the emergency services on the road.

“In line with government’s advice, all of our staff in roles that enable them to work from home are doing so. In addition, those who are pregnant, have a health condition that could make them vulnerable, or are over the age of 70 are also at home.”

Image source, Gett

Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed last night that affected self-employed workers will receive a grant of up to 80% of their profits - as long as they averaged under £50,000 per year.

Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, told the BBC’s Today programme: “Initially it was thought to be too difficult and too expensive to help the self-employed, so at least this is something."

But those who are recently self-employed and don't have a full year of accounts won't receive any help.

Mr Cherry said: “Unfortunately, for many people whose businesses have completely stopped, the only option left for them is to claim for things like universal credit. This is going to be a huge problem for small businesses - if they are only entitled to statutory sick pay, it might not even cover their fixed costs.”

Read more on what help is available here.