Former Wales rugby captain Colin Charvis has taken to social media to praise Swansea council having received an emergency grant for his flooring business.

North Wales Police are once again appealing to people to do their bit in the fight against coronavirus by staying at home this weekend.

"It's really simple to do the right thing, stay local, follow the guidance," the force said on social media.

The latest figures on laboratory-confirmed suspected coronavirus deaths have been released by Public Health Wales.

The areas with the highest numbers of deaths and death rates per head of population have been in south Wales.

Another 17 deaths of people with coronavirus have been confirmed by Public Health Wales, taking its official total to 925, external.

There were another 160 confirmed cases, taking the total to 9,972.

Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford says the clinical evidence on wearing face masks in public to limit the spread of coronavirus remains "finely balanced", but conceded: "There is a debate going on across the UK."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested yesterday that the idea would be “useful” once lockdown restrictions ease, while Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has recommended wearing masks in shops and on public transport.

“We’re not yet in a position in Wales where our Chief Medical Officer (Dr Frank Atherton) has taken that view," Mr Drakeford said.

"There is advice that wearing non-medical face coverings by members of the public can have a marginal advantage, and in some cases that is being advised... but there are areas where the evidence itself is contested, and face masks is one."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Ten Welsh MPs have signed a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak requesting support for the steel industry during the coronavirus pandemic.

They said the demand for steel products had been reduced by up to 80% during the coronavirus crisis, and many steel companies were facing a "cash-flow crisis".

They added that steel producers would play a "critical role" in the nation's economic recovery. The Chancellor is yet to issue a response.

Labour and Plaid Cymru MPs from Wales signed the letter along with other MPs around the UK who represent steel communities.

The letter said: "We the representatives of steel workers and communities across the UK are writing to you regarding the critical role steel producers will play in the nation's economic recovery, and the increasingly urgent need to provide financial support today to enable them to fulfill this role tomorrow.

"To date no steel producer has managed to receive the support it requires.

"The economic arguments are clear - for each and every tonne of British steel that goes into infrastructure, £700 is added to the UK economy. With millions of tonnes required, UK steel makers can boost the economy by billions in the years ahead."

Their requests included speeding up and simplifying the Treasury's approval process for company-specific support, ensuring money is available in days not weeks, and replacing the current £50m "loan ceiling" with one related to a company's turnover.

First Minister Mark Drakeford says people in care homes will be tested where there are others who show symptoms.

Speaking at the daily Welsh Government briefing, he said: "We know if there is someone who is symptomatic in a care home, we are likely to want to test people who were asymptomatic."

Mr Drakeford said that half the care homes in Wales have no symptoms of coronavirus and there is no "clinical value" in testing those residents.

The Welsh NHS said earlier this week that it will only test residents and staff who have symptoms, but not those who do not.

It follows a UK government decision to test all residents and staff of care homes in England.

First minister promises extra cash for the "small army" of people supporting others to live independently in their own homes.

Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford says he has not spoken to Boris Johnson "for several weeks".

The two men had their last conversation before the prime minister was admitted to hospital with coronavirus on 5 April. Mr Johnson returned to work on Monday.

Mr Drakeford said today he would have preferred to see more collaboration between the four UK governments during the coronavirus crisis.

He told reporters: “I last spoke directly to the prime minister before he fell ill. That was several weeks ago now.

“He has had a very busy week since he returned to work and I wouldn’t have necessarily expected to be at the top of his contact list this week.

"We have had lots of contact with other UK government ministers in the meantime.

“What I think we haven’t had, and I would have preferred to have seen, is a systematic pattern of contact with the devolved administrations where we could have shared ideas, made sure we understood each other’s perspectives, contributed together to work which is going on in all parts of the UK as we move towards making decisions as to whether it’s the right time to come out of lockdown and how to do it.”

The first minister said he had received a letter from Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove outlining a suggestion for more regular contact in future.

Wales’ biggest public services trade union, Unison, has welcomed the Welsh Government’s announcement that all social care workers will be paid a £500 bonus in recognition of their work during the coronavirus pandemic.

An estimated 65,000 care workers employed by councils, private care providers and the non-profit care providers stand to benefit across Wales.

The Unison Cymru Wales head of local government, Dominic MacAskill, welcomed the announcement but said the basic pay and conditions of care workers still needed to be addressed.

“The Covid-19 lockdown has highlighted the vital contribution of so many key workers who keep our communities running," Mr MacAskill said.

"Care workers have looked after our loved ones during the lockdown and the work they do should be valued much more highly by society.

“It can’t be right that many care workers, particularly in the private or non-profit sector, suffer in-work poverty because of very low wages and precarious contracts.

"Unison believes all care workers should earn at least £10 per hour."

First Minister Mark Drakeford thinks it is true that Wales has "begun to come over the peak of coronavirus".

"When the prime minister says that we have begun to come over the peak of coronavirus, I think that is true in Wales," he said.

But he added: "Whether we have come over it far enough is another matter."

Asked if he agreed with Boris Johnson that the UK was "over the peak", Mr Drakeford said "I wouldn't characterise it in that way here in Wales".

He said the numbers of patients in critical care beds with the virus were coming down and "we believe that we have effectively suppressed coronavirus in the community, whether we have done it enough to lift the lockdown will depend on the tests that we apply".

Earlier, Mr Drakeford told the BBC people will not use services reopened when the coronavirus lockdown is eased if they "don't think it's safe".

He said the process would need to be "careful and cautious and we will have to take people with us".

Image source, Alamy

All social care workers will get a cash bonus of £500 each, First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced.

The payments will be made to more than 64,000 workers, at a cost of £32.2m.

Deaths with coronavirus in Welsh care homes continue to rise - there were 184 such deaths by 17 April, accounting for 40% of all Covid-19 deaths in Cardiff.

Mr Drakeford said both residential and domiciliary staff were "often accepting a greater degree of risk" and the payment was designed to recognise that.

Cardiff Airport firefighters will be providing support at the Dragon’s Heart Hospital (Ysbyty Calon y Ddraig) in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

The field hospital officially opened its doors last Monday and is equipped to provide up to 2,000 beds for Covid-19 patients.

Thirty-two firefighters from Cardiff Airport’s Fire and Rescue service will form the bulk of a 55-strong unit, working on a shift basis to ensure that essential round-the-clock fire cover is provided at the hospital.

Cardiff Airport Fire and Rescue Service station manager Nic Case said: “We are extremely proud of the enthusiasm shown by the team to support the national effort.

"The team will continue to work on-site at the airport in order to provide essential cover for critical flights - such as those transporting PPE and medical supplies - as well as undertaking shifts to support the hospital’s operation, staff and patients."

Image source, Cardiff Airport

Image source, Getty Images

Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium is to be used as a coronavirus testing centre for health and social care staff.

The stadium was already being used for NHS training sessions, but the Championship club say they have extended their level of support.

“It’s another example of fantastic partnership working in these difficult times with the Swansea Bay University Health Board, Swansea Council and Swansea City joining forces for this vital testing unit,” said a statement on the club’s website.

Swansea say work on the drive-through unit, which will be able to test 360 people a day, will start next week and should be finished by next Friday.

The unit will be for health and social care staff who will attend by appointment only. It will not be open to the public.

With no football to think about right now, Wales manager Ryan Giggs has turned his hand to teaching.

Former Manchester United star Giggs is using a book he enjoyed as a kid, Roald Dahl's The BFG, to help kids aged between six and 12 with spelling and grammar.

People have been warned not to be tempted to break lockdown measures after a "doubling" of coronavirus cases in Anglesey.

As of Thursday, 81 cases had been recorded in Anglesey, external, according to Public Health Wales figures - up from 39 two weeks ago.

The true number may be higher as many with symptoms are not tested.

Anglesey council said the rise showed people could not "let their guards down".

A woman is storing all her recycling in her home during the coronavirus lockdown to stop it being sent to the incinerator as councils struggle to keep up with rubbish.

Many councils across Wales have said they may not hit recycling targets due to the pandemic, due to more rubbish being thrown out and recycling centres being closed.

But in Cardiff the council is now burning recycling after seeing a large increase in the amount of rubbish people are throwing away, while trying to maintain the service while staff are off sick.

Keen recycler Pauline Bath said she was keeping all her recycling under the stairs, until normal service resumed.

"I feel because I put a lot of effort into it I don't like the idea of it going to an incinerator, so I’m keeping everything until they can go back to processing recycling," she said.

"I’m trying to keep hold of my full recycling bags for as long as possible...but I am running out of room”.

Cardiff council said the temporary measure was the only way it could maintain a service, with councillor Michael Michael, saying the council had been sorting recycling by hand and "I didn’t want to put the health and safety of the staff in any kind of danger".

Image source, Getty Images

Wearing face masks provide only "modest" health benefits but may boost the public mood, a UK minister has said

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick admitted that face coverings are not thought to make a "huge difference" to the spread of Covid-19 but that people can wear them if they want to.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested that the use of masks could form part of the measures that will ease the UK lockdown, further details of which are due to be released next week.

Mr Jenrick told the BBC on Friday: "The advice in the past has been that face masks have only quite a modest difference from a health perspective.

"They do help us to protect others, and it might be particularly useful if you're asymptomatic - so you don't know if you've got symptoms but you could still be spreading the virus.

"The benefits are modest but they might be a way of giving people confidence because many people are understandably very anxious about going out, about returning to the workplace in a safe way."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been calling for wider use of masks.

Ships will honk horns at midday on Friday to show support for seafarers around the world.

Stena Line say the 30 ships they have in regular operation will sound horns in unison “to celebrate the 1.6m men and women at sea that are so important to keeping our countries running and shops supplied” during the coronavirus crisis.

“We want to highlight the important work undertaken by our key worker seafarers and our colleagues on board our vessels, in these challenging times,” said Stena Line’s Erik Lewenhaupt.

Image source, Getty Images

Under normal circumstances, Machynlleth would be a hive of activity this weekend thanks to the town's annual comedy festival.

The event has become one of the UK's leading comedy festivals, attracting big names to the small town in Powys, but this year's has been cancelled because of coronavirus.

“People come here from London, from Newcastle, from everywhere - the festival has put Machynlleth's name on the map across Britain," said the town council's Jim Honeybill.

In the absence of the festival, BBC Radio Wales will broadcast a series of special programmes this weekend.

There will be a documentary looking back at the festival's 10-year history, performances by Welsh comedians and comedy from some of the festival's stars live from their homes.