Mr Skates says the Welsh Government's £500m economic resilience fund is "providing vital support for businesses".

"We’re doing that to support good businesses in 2019 to be a good business in 2021," he said.

"And we want to support people who had a good job in 2019 to have a good job in 2021.

"Our package of business support is now the most comprehensive anywhere in the UK," he added.

"Yes there are still gaps, yes there is more we can do – and yes there will be more we will do - but I am proud of what we have put in place here in Wales."

Mr Skates says there have been 8,000 applications for grants from the Welsh Government's £500m economic resilience fund (ERF) so far.

Small and medium-sized businesses can apply for a grant between £25,000 and £100,000.

He said a grant of up to £10,000 was available to assist microbusinesses.

"Bespoke support is available to our larger strategically important businesses," he added.

He said: "This support is in addition to the help that we are making available through business rates relief for firms in the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors and the range of associated grant support that goes with that scheme."

Economy Minister Ken Skates says a recession is unavoidable but governments across the UK should do their best to "shelter businesses through this storm".

Speaking at the Welsh Government's daily coronavirus press briefing, he said a recent report predicted UK GDP falling by 35% in the second quarter of 2020.

He said: "There is no avoiding a recession, but to avert a major depression it is imperative that governments across the UK do everything in their power to shelter businesses through this storm and protect workers from the very great threat of unemployment."

The minister said the Welsh Government "have made a commitment to play our part in that work".

"It is why we have re-examined our budgets and made tough decisions, across every areas of government, to put in place a new £500m Economic Resilience Fund".

Ken Skates, minister for economy, transport and north Wales, will be giving an update on the Welsh Government's response to the coronavirus outbreak shortly.

You can watch it live on BBC 1 Wales or via the link above.

Four field hospitals capable of treating a combined 700 patients have been completed and formerly handed over to Hywel Dda University Health Board.

Carmarthenshire council says it has spent £5m developing facilities at Parc y Scarlets, Selwyn Samuel Centre and the leisure centre in Llanelli and Carmarthen Leisure Centre.

Council leader Emlyn Dole said councils needed assurances from the Welsh Government that they will get proper funding for coronavirus preparations.

He also appealed for detailed discussions between the Welsh Government and UK government before lockdown restrictions are eased.

Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roverts has tabled a motion for people repeatedly flouting non-essential travel rules to be fined at least £1,000.

The Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP said she was "concerned about continuing reports of people travelling to rural areas to visit holiday homes and holiday lets".

Currently, if someone refuses to follow the regulations - for instance a request to go home - officers can give them an on-the-spot fine of £60,

Fines rise to £120 for second and subsequent offences - and individuals ignoring the rules could risk arrest if they refuse to comply.

A fixed penalty notice for a first offence falls to £30 if paid within 14 days.

But while fines in England could reach as high as £960, that will not happen in Wales.

The rules are broadly the same across the UK, but each country has its own regulations:

• The English law, external
• The Welsh law, external
• The Scottish law, external
• The Northern Ireland law, external

The Welsh Government has responded to an open letter from a group of senior doctors in Wales.

The 15 clinicians called on First Minister Mark Drakeford to make second home use unlawful during the coronavirus pandemic or risk a "second peak".

They also asked him to prolong lockdown restrictions in rural tourist hot spots.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The regulations currently in force allow people to leave their main home only for a very limited number of reasons – which do not include travelling to a second home.

“We will continue to look in detail at the regulations to see whether there are any areas which need to be tightened or areas where we could make changes.”

How does a world champion boxer train in lockdown?

Lauren Price tells BBC Sport Wales how she is coping during the coronavirus pandemic - hundreds of miles away from her grandparents.

The 25-year-old from Newport was raised by her grandmother and grandfather from when she was three days old. Because her grandfather is over 70 and isolating, she says she could not continue to live with them and go out to train.

In her Isolation Diaries, Price gives an insight into her lockdown life while training in her garage in Sheffield.

Image source, Unison

Care providers in Wales are being forced to use personal protective equipment (PPE) of such poor quality it “looks like they are out of a Christmas cracker," a union has said.

Unison Cymru said employers were going to “shocking lengths” to equip workers.

It said: “One worker’s photograph shows goggles they have been given to assemble which look like they are out of a Christmas cracker".

It said another worker had sent it a photograph of home-made hand santiser in drinking bottles provided by the employer.

Some care workers had reported being expected to re-use PPE, with at least one example of someone being advised to keep their single-use face mask in a zip-locked sandwich bag for use on their next shift, it said.

The union’s social care lead officer Mark Turner said: “It is essential all care workers have the protective equipment they need.

"Welsh Government and councils have a duty to ensure private and non-profit care providers comply with PPE guidelines.”

Yesterday, Wales' Health Minister Vaughan Gething said there were "very real concerns" about PPE and that keeping supplies "relies on the hard work of a lot of people to maintain these supply chains and, of course, supply chains are under threat".

Image source, Unison

Girl band Little Mix have cancelled their summer tour due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They released a statement on their Instagram page this morning.

They were due to play Cardiff City Stadium on 28 June and Stadiwm Zip World in Colwyn Bay on 11 July.

Image source, Getty Images

Felicity Evans
BBC Wales political editor

A group of senior doctors from across Wales has written an open letter to Wales' first minister and health minister calling on them to make second home use unlawful during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Tourism and holiday home use facilitate non-essential movement into rural areas, increasing the population and thus placing additional pressures on local health and emergency services," the letter said.

First Minister Mark Drakeford announced on Monday that his government was looking at strengthening regulations on people travelling to second homes and that he would give more details by the end of the week.

The fifteen clinicians, who all lead health clusters in different parts of Wales, call on Mr Drakeford to do three things:

1. Make second home use illegal until the risk posed by Covid-19 has abated, even when lockdown restrictions begin to ease in other areas of Wales and the UK, in order to prevent a “second peak”.

2. Prolong lockdown measures in rural tourist hot spot areas of Wales, specifically targeting non-essential travel into these areas.

3 Give Wales’ police forces the power to force those breaking the rules to return to their main home.

They say without such action “we face a very real possibility of a second peak in areas such as north and west Wales” at the worst moment when staff resilience is low and global supplies of personal protective equipment is depleted.

“We appreciate the economic value of tourism, but this cannot be at the cost of the health of our rural population. We hope that the Welsh Government will show the value of devolution by being prepared to act in a swift, innovative, agile and decisive manner to safeguard the people of Wales.

The Welsh Government has been approached for a response.

Citizens Advice Cymru says families have seen their lives “turned upside down” by the coronavirus pandemic, with people losing their jobs or seeing their incomes cut.

The charity has helped more than 11,000 in Wales people since lockdown began and says it is clear that many are not aware of what financial assistance they are entitled to, or are struggling with the claims process.

It has also released figures, based on a recent survey of just over 500 people, which show:

• Around 250,000 people in Wales (17% of the total workforce) have already seen their hours cut, been laid off, or made redundant as a result of Coronavirus
• Four out of 10 (42%) people have lost household income because of this crisis, with nearly one in 14 (7%) losing 80% or more of their household income
• One in four people (25%) have applied or expect to apply for benefits as a result of the outbreak.

Rebecca Woolley, director of Citizens Advice Cymru, said: “I’m incredibly proud that across the country our local Citizens Advice services are there to support people in need - with many of them rapidly transforming their services to adapt to social distancing measures.

“However, it's increasingly clear that many people simply aren’t aware of what they’re entitled to or how to claim it. The Welsh Government needs to do more to encourage people to claim the financial support they are entitled to.”

Image source, Getty Images

Education Minister Kirsty Williams has announced an extra £33m for local authorities to continue providing lunch for children eligible for free school meals.

Schools or local authorities have the discretion to purchase gift cards or e-vouchers from local supermarkets or collaborate with local businesses to provide and deliver food parcels or “grab and go” options.

She said free school meals would be provided until schools reopen, or up until the end of August.

"This makes Wales the first country in the United Kingdom to provide continued assurance of support to families over the summer holidays," she said.

Rachael Garside
BBC News

Image source, Emma Daniels

Emma Daniels runs a business making children's clothes from her home in Llanelli.

When she lost her work as a result of coronavirus restrictions, she decided to make some face masks with left-over material.

To start with, she made 12 and put a message on Facebook asking if anyone wanted them.

She was inundated with district nurses and midwives asking for them.

Emma now has 10 women helping, including a driving instructor, a retired machinist and an IT trainer, while a taxi driver offered to do the deliveries for free.

The have made 1,400 masks and almost 500 laundry bags. You can read the full story here.

Facebook is to begin asking selected UK users whether they have had symptoms of Covid-19.

It is part of a joint effort with Carnegie Mellon University in the United States to track the spread of the disease.

Facebook said it would not have access to users’ health data but would simply pass it on to the university.

One expert said data from the surveys would be useful to scientists but probably not, on its own, reveal much about the disease.

Facebook launched the surveys in the US on 6 April, attracting about a million responses per week.

Image source, Facebook

The National Assembly for Wales will meet online again this afternoon.

Its first virtual plenary meeting took place on 1 April.

A "hybrid" Parliament - with some MPs in the chamber and others connected via video link - will begin in the House of Commons today after MPs approved the plan yesterday.

The pandemic provides a "critical opportunity" for the environment, Natural Resources Wales has said.

Marking Earth Day, its chief executive Clare Pillman said: "Looming behind the Covid-19 emergency is the very real climate crisis that we’re all facing...

"The decisions we make now on how we want to live our lives once we emerge from this period could yet have a significant influence on the climate emergency situation."

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said the world must not forget the "deeper environmental emergency" facing the planet.

He said the toll taken by the virus was both "immediate and dreadful", but the crisis was also a wake-up call, "to do things right for the future."

“One of the most frequent questions is whether people can make a will in the restrictions and the answer is yes," says Nerys Thomas of Harrison Clark Rickerbys in Cardiff.

Speaking to BBC Radio Cymru’s Post Cyntaf, she said: “Solicitors who prepare wills are on the list of key workers, and most are still working...

“We have had to adapt our methods of communication [by] holding meetings on Facetime, Skype and use email a lot.

“But one of the main problems at the moment is signing and witnessing wills."

She said in Wales and England two witnesses who are not included in the will are required to be physically present with the person making the will.

“Many clients have been going out into the garden, asking neighbours, setting up a table in the middle of the garden, everyone wearing gloves and using their own pens for example to sign.”

Police in Rhondda Cynon Taff and Merthyr Tydfil are asking people using the hillsides for their daily exercise to be considerate of farmers who are lambing.

"Daily exercise can be elsewhere," South Wales Police tweeted.

The UK benchmark for oil has fallen by more than 10% to around $16 (£13) a barrel.

It comes the day after the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US oil, fell below zero for the first time ever.

The falls are a striking illustration of just how much economic activity has slowed around the world.

Prices have weakened sharply because of a combination of events triggered by a collapse in global demand.

The knock-on effect has been a supply glut and a worldwide shortage of storage space for oil.

Image source, Getty Images