Now is not the time for politicians to engage in tribal bickering, the Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart has said.

When the Tory politician was asked about Wales’ Labour Health Minister Vaughan Gething's record on virus testing, he said: "It is really easy for me to sit here and shake my head and make some barbed comments about the Welsh Government's performance, but I have to say having spoken to thousands of members of the public and businesses in Wales, the overwhelming message I get is please stop the tribal bickering - get on and fix the problem.

“As far as I'm concerned my job is that the UK government offers as much help as possible to Vaughan Gething. We're here to support his efforts.”

He also told Oliver Hides on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast: "I don't think you can say that we were under-prepared in the UK - I just think that this is a global pandemic of the sort that nobody has seen before.

“We absolutely recognise that Germany has a greater number of laboratories capable of doing this, than pretty well every other country in the world. It's the way our economy has evolved. But the central point is that everyone agrees that the more testing we can do the better.”

Image source, Wales News Service

A commitment to test thousands of people every day for coronavirus has not "lessened", the Vaughan Gething, Wales' health minister has said.

The Welsh Government had hoped to hit a target of 5,000 a day by mid-April, but is currently only able to test 1,300 samples - well below the target.

Mr Gething said he had not given an exact date for the target to be reached, and said he was committed to increasing testing and the opening of a testing centre at Newport's Rodney Parade would help.

He told BBC Radio Wales: "I do expect that within a number of days we will be at that point."

Mr Gething said he had made the commitment in "good faith", and there was "no lessening of commitment" from the Welsh Government over testing capacity.

The Welsh Government has been criticised after a testing centre at Cardiff City Stadium was closed on Monday, despite testing figures being below target.

But Mr Gething said it had been shut by Public Health Wales due to only getting a "handful of referrals" and had announced a review of the referral system.

"I find that really frustrating and I'm sure people who run health boards, local authorities or key public services are frustrated that there's capacity that hasn't been used," he said.

"I want to make sure that people are referring people in, so that we don't get into the situation we have today where there isn't a backlog, but we're not making best use of our resources."

He added: "I accept there will be front line workers who want to get back to work, who will be deeply frustrated that we are not using the capacity we have."

In case you missed it:

• The Welsh Government is only testing 14% of the 5,000 a day it had hoped to test by mid-April
• Wales is currently able to test 1,300 samples a day, well below the original target.
• The most recent analysis, for Easter Monday, showed just 678 tests were carried out
• Testing lets people confirm if they have the disease and provides information about the virus' spread.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said tests could "reduce the harm caused by coronavirus" and "help people and professionals get back to their normal daily lives."

But when did Wales start testing? And when will there be a big increase in tests?

Image source, Getty Images

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this Wednesday morning - from the latest on testing for care homes to tough times for small businesses.

Image source, Gail Grant

Image source, Getty Images

Care home workers must not be driven to exhaustion during the coronavirus pandemic, a pallative care expert has said.

Baroness Ilora Finlay, of Cardiff University, told BBC Radio Wales more care workers needed to be tested for Covid-19 to stop the workforce being spread too thinly.

She said testing was important so workers self-isolating with potential symptoms could come back to work if they did not have the virus.

"When you've got staff who are very pushed, very thin on the ground, it becomes harder and harder for them to respond and keep areas effectively isolated," she said.

"If the staff are worked into the ground, and are on their knees, it becomes inhumane, you then can't expect them to provide the gentle, kind, compassionate care that we expect of them. They need looking after too."

But Baroness Finlay was supportive of the Welsh Government's testing plans, saying that Health Minister Vaughan Gething's call for front-line staff who are off work to be tested was the right thing to support the sector.

The Welsh Government had hoped to be carrying out 5,000 tests a day by mid-April, but has only reached 14% of that target.

Elderly people who get coronavirus may not survive if they are moved from care homes into intensive care, a palliative care expert has said.

A total of 81 adult care homes in Wales have had one or more confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to Care Inspectorate Wales.

Baroness Ilora Finlay, of Cardiff University, told BBC Radio Wales not moving elderly people with coronavirus symptoms from care homes was the right thing, as many were "very frail and would not survive being moved".

"If you are going to look after them humanely, gently and compassionately, they are better off remaining in a place they know, with staff they know, being comforted by people they know," she said.

"Each situation has to be judged on an individual basis, you can't have a blanket policy."

She also called for current medication rules in care homes - which means patients' tablets cannot legally be shared with others - to be changed, to stop stocks running out.

Baroness Finlay said this meant that full and half packets of medication were being wasted or sitting on shelves while others were not getting their tablets quickly enough.

"Stocks of some medications, as we know, are beginning to run low already," she said.

"It would be quicker and easier - and there is no evidence that it wouldn't be safe - to re-purpose them," she said.

Baroness Finlay said she had been pushing for the Nursing Home Reform Act to be relaxed to allow for medications to be re-purposed.

Traffic Wales has shared photos of a quiet A55 this morning.

"Thank you for staying home," it tweeted.

Last week Sue Martin told of the daily heartache since her husband Mal, 58, was admitted to intensive care with Covid-19.

The 49-year-old from Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, told how the father of her teenage children had been given zero chance of survival

But this morning she has updated BBC Radio 4's Today programme and there is hope.

She said: “Incredibly, nine days after being told that Mal has almost zero chance of survival, and myself and the children going to say our goodbyes, Mal is still with us.

"It’s now day 17 on the ventilator and the hospital have said that he is moving into the weaning phase.

"Weaning from the ventilator and rehabilitation is going to be an extremely long, slow and painful process, and there are no guarantees that it will be successful, but we are prepared for whatever it brings."

She said she was "so, so grateful" to the ICU team and had been "overwhelmed" with thousands of lovely, caring and hopeful messages from people from all around the world who were "rooting for Mal".

"It doesn’t matter how long it takes, we just want him home with us,” she said.

Image source, Sue Martin

People and businesses should be wary of scammers trying to turn the coronavirus pandemic to their advantage, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.

Scammers have been targeting vulnerable people including those self-isolating at home, the NCA said.

Graeme Biggar, director general of the agency's National Economic Crime Centre, said the virus was increasingly being used as "a hook to commit fraud".

It comes as two people were arrested on suspicion of selling illegal tests.

A 46-year-old pharmacist from Croydon, south London, was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of making false and misleading claims about the capability of coronavirus testing kits he had allegedly tried to sell, the NCA said.

Officers seized £20,000 in cash and searched two properties and a car. The suspect was released on bail.

Separately, on Sunday, investigators arrested a 39-year-old surveyor from Uxbridge, west London, who had allegedly planned to sell 250 testing kits to construction workers.

He was also held under the Fraud Act, investigators said.

Image source, PA Media

Dairy farms affected by the pandemic need urgent support, a union has said.

National Farmers' Union Cymru says the Covid-19 outbreak has seen the almost complete loss of the food service and hospitality markets, as well as increasing price volatility in global markets, leaving farm businesses and processors under increased pressure.

Some farmers are being forced to dump milk.

Welsh Environment Minister Lesley Griffiths said previously she was meeting with UK ministers and would see what “financial assistance could be suitable”.

Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas expects his next three days to be his toughest challenge yet as he commits to spending 36 hours on a turbo trainer to raise money for the NHS.

The Cardiff-born 2018 Tour winner wants to replicate the shifts of an NHS worker as he embarks on three 12-hour stints on the bike with the goal of raising £100,000 to help the fight against the coronavirus.

Thomas has no targets in terms of speed or distance, and no mountains standing in his way, but the Team Ineos rider expects this to be up there with the greatest challenges he has faced - because that is how he designed it.

He said: "I'm just going to be pedalling away in my garage sat in Cardiff... I haven't got that competitive edge to keep me racing.

"Timewise it's a lot more - three days, 36 hours, it's close to eight or nine stages of the Tour.

"Obviously it's a lot slower but physically it will be tough and mentally it's even harder."

Some of the UK's attractions and museums will be lost due to the impact of the coronavirus lockdown on their finances, arts bodies have warned.

Independent institutions that usually depend on entrance fees and are not backed by regular grants or funding are thought to be most at risk.

London's Florence Nightingale Museum and Charles Dickens Museum are among those who have appealed for more help.

The UK government said it was "committed to supporting" the cultural sector.

Image source, Charles Dickens Museum / Getty Images

An intensive care consultant says his department has discharged their first five patients from critical care.

Dr David Hepburn, from the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, said all had been on ventilators "so sick as you can be".

Dr Hepburn was himself laid low by coronavirus - after catching it from a hospital colleague.

He tweeted: "They've got a way to go before full recovery but are safe and on the mend."

Temporary cabins are to be used to house homeless people in two towns in Conwy county to help them during the coronavirus lockdown period.

Ten cabins with a single bed, bathroom and microwave have been acquired by the council.

Some will be placed in a car park in Colwyn Bay owned by Cais, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity.

Others will be placed at a car park at Llandudno town hall which will also provide support services.

A nearby café has offered to provide meals.

A woman whose fertility treatment has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak has described it as"soul destroying".

Amanda Faulkiner-Farrow, 38, from Bethel, Gwynedd, was due to have a round of treatment in June.

Non-urgent outpatient appointments and surgical procedures were suspended by the Welsh Government in March to help the health service tackle coronavirus.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) which regulates UK fertility clinics said all current treatments must be completed by 15 April.

Mrs Faulkiner-Farrow and her husband James had their first round of ICSI, a form of fertility treatment, last April.

She sought a second round of treatment last September but was told she would have to wait until the next financial year because of limited funding.

"There's a lot of women out there like me, on a clock, and we didn't leave it last minute because we wanted a career, it was just the way love and life and circumstances fell," she said.

Image source, Amanda Faulkiner-Farrow

The Welsh Government has "sincerely apologised" after 13,000 letters meant for people most vulnerable to coronavirus were sent to the wrong addresses.

More than 80,000 people are meant to get a "shielding letter" from the chief medical officer.

Plaid Cymru said it was a "potentially disastrous mistake".

The Welsh Government said all letters have since been reissued to the correct addresses.

The letter is for those with serious underlying health conditions and advises people to stay at home for 12 weeks.

It also contains information and advice, including how those who have no-one else to support them can get medication and other essential items like food.

Image source, Getty

Welcome to Wednesday's live updates, covering the latest stories on the coronavirus in Wales. Here's a look at the main developments from Tuesday:

• Another 19 people in Wales have died after testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total number to 403, Public Health Wales (PHW) says
• Another 238 confirmed new cases brought the total in Wales to 5,848
• The Welsh Government is only testing 14% of the 5,000 a day it had hoped to test by mid-April, it has emerged
• Health Minister Vaughan Gething says 75 out of Wales' 1,073 care homes have confirmed cases of Covid-19 and a further 217 have suspected cases
• A nurse who died after contracting coronavirus "paid the ultimate price" due to a lack of personal protective equipment, a friend has claimed
• The Anglesey County Show is the latest major event to be called off because of coronavirus restrictions