The former head of procurement for NHS Wales has warned of companies trying to profit from the coronavirus crisis.

Mark Roscoe, who now chairs the trustees of the independent Healthcare Supply Association, was speaking on BBC Radio 4 about the UK government's challenge of sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line staff.

While orders have been placed abroad, many UK firms are said to have been offering stock, and while Mr Roscoe said the offers had been "fantastic", there were some organisations "trying to use the chaos as an opportunity to make money".

"There’s a lot of fake product out there, a lot of organisations are sending us information that they’ve got things and wanting money up front," he said.

"We had a company asking Wales to pay nearly £22m for product they didn’t actually want us to go and have a look at. So you’ve got to be extremely careful."

Mr Roscoe added in these unprecedented times usual methods of procurement have "gone out the window".

"An old boss of mine told me put your best people where your biggest problem is. We need people who are agile and I think there’s been an opportunity missed to bring in some of the very good people from across the UK together to look at this problem," he told the Today programme.

He said Wales had been reasonably successful in getting PPE which he said was "in part because we have people who know people who’ve got contacts and that’s the way some of this has had to work.

"It's not your conventional procurement process of ‘let’s send out the tenders and analyse it’, there’s not time for that, you’ve got to be fleet of foot and responsive."

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Supermarket and shop workers deserve to be paid a minimum of £10 an hour after coronavirus, a union leader has argued.

Paddy Lillis, of the Usdaw union, said retail "heroes" should be rewarded for risking their health to keep people "fed and watered".

He predicted a post-crisis "day of reckoning" on pay and conditions.

But the British Retail Consortium said now was "not the right time" to ask for a wage increase.

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Image source, Michael Twaite

Seeing Sir Tom Jones describe two years of isolation at his childhood home brought back memories for Michael Twaite.

Speaking at the Together at Home concert for frontline workers on Sunday, Sir Tom revealed he was isolated for two years at his home in Pontypridd as a result of tuberculosis (TB).

For Mr Twaite, from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, it was an experience he shared.

Mr Twaite, 70, who is currently isolating with his wife due to coronavirus, contracted TB as a 23-year-old.

"I was a skeleton," he said. "I was six-and-a-half stone. I was given two weeks to live. Another two weeks and I would have died."

Former Welsh champions Rhyl FC are set to close down after 141 years of existence.

The side confirmed they had begun a winding-up process, with directors citing the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis.

"This is a very emotional day for everyone connected with the club," said chairman Paul Higginson. "We are all fans and feel it deeply."

The four-time Welsh Cup winners play in the second-tier Cymru North.

Rhyl had warned recently they could not meet financial obligations and required significant external investment to continue.

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Image source, Michaela Elizabeth Jefferies

Five-month-old Jaxon from Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, is one of the youngest supporters of NHS staff.

His grandmother Susan Thomas said: “I thought this photo of my grandson in his rainbow tracksuit is a lovely mascot for the NHS and all the key workers that have helped and are still helping us in these bad times.”

She said she was missing him during lockdown: "I only see him on Facetime."

Eight-year-old Reegan from Port Talbot has been explaining what inspired her to launch a campaign that led to a war veteran being sent 25,000 birthday cards.

Captain Tom Moore, 99, raised more than £27m by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.

"He's a war hero, now he's my hero and the nation's hero," she said.

Traffic Wales has shared images of quiet roads in mid and north Wales.

It says it is expecting another quiet day.

Retired physiotherapist Mandy Coxhead has returned to work in Chirk Community Hospital, Denbighshire.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board says more doctors, nurses, therapists and therapy support staff are needed.

More than 150,000 people have died with Covid-19 around the world, but there are still no drugs proven to help doctors treat the disease.

So what work is being done to find treatments?

More than 150 different drugs are being researched around the world. Most are existing drugs that are being trialled against the virus.

• The World Health Organization has launched the Solidarity trial, external aimed at assessing the most promising treatments
• The UK says its Recovery trial is the world's biggest,, external with more than 5,000 patients already taking part
• And multiple research centres around the world are attempting to use survivors' blood as a treatment

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Two people are in custody after police in Newtown, Powys, discovered cannabis in a car.

All three people in the car had been making a non-essential journey, the force tweeted.

The Welsh Secretary will become the first government minister in history to address the House of Commons virtually.

Simon Hart will take questions from MPs from his home in Pembrokeshire later on Wednesday.

The Commons is sitting in a “hybrid” format – with a limited number of MPs attending but most expected to join through the internet.

“The UK government has told people to work from home where possible during the coronavirus outbreak and it is right that the work of the UK Parliament is also carried out differently during these unprecedented times,” Mr Hart said.

The Welsh Assembly will also return later, continuing its virtual sittings.

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Volunteer groups in Wales say they are receiving referrals from social services to help support vulnerable people during the coronavirus outbreak.

One group in Chepstow says there has been a "phenomenal" level of need.

It has taken more than 1,400 calls and carried out close to 1,000 tasks in just over a month, including delivering medication and food.

There are tens of thousands of volunteers across Wales, with 60 groups in Monmouthshire alone.

Helen Child Villiers, founder of the Chepstow Covid-19 Helping Group, said they had received a range of requests for help, including buying food for some people.

Husband and wife Keith and Jenni Brews are volunteering in Chepstow delivering medication and food.

Jenni said: "I'm motivated by love really, I love living here, I love my community, and it's what God would have me do right now."

A lack of PPE may prevent bodies of coronavirus victims being collected, according to a group which represents funeral directors.

The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors said its members were struggling to get sufficient supplies of PPE.

The group's chief executive, Terry Tennens, said funeral directors were "forgotten" key workers.

He said: "It's a major concern but if you can't fulfil the safe removal of the deceased, there's a real serious problem.

"If our members end up falling sick, it could mean funeral homes will close if they haven't got fit staff. This could result in them being unable to pick up the bodies of the deceased."

Funeral director Gareth Jenkins said his sister is making PPE for his firm in Baglan, Neath Port Talbot, due to a lack of supplies.

The Welsh Government said: "We are aware of some issues relating to the distribution of PPE for funeral directors and are working to resolve them as soon as possible."

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Wales.

Here’s a recap of what happened on Tuesday:

• Another 25 people died with coronavirus, taking the total number to 609 - although the number is likely to be higher due to delays in registering non-hospital deaths. Public Health Wales also announced there were 304 confirmed new cases since the last count, taking the total to 7,850. Again, the true number is likely to be higher as many people with symptoms are not tested.
• Wales' Health Minister Vaughan Gething defended dropping a target to carry out 5,000 tests a day, saying the virus was circulating less than expected. But opposition parties labelled the comments "shocking and irresponsible". Mr Gething said separately that PPE was a "bigger priority" than testing.
• The Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Sir Martin Evans, accused the Welsh and UK governments of a "dereliction of duty" for failing to make better use of domestic assistance to address testing and kit shortages. The Welsh Government said it was "surprised" by his comments and gave examples of ways in which it was working with universities.