Thanks for joining us for us our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Wales on Wednesday.

As we bring things to a close for the day, these have been some of the main stories:

• Public Health Wales has reported a further 21 deaths with Covid-19 in Wales, taking the total to 1,044 deaths
• There are also 95 new cases in Wales, meaning 10,764 have been diagnosed with coronavirus, although the true number is likely to be higher
• The death toll across the UK as a whole has now passed 30,000

• Wales' first Covid-19 patient says he hopes his recovery will inspire others to "stay positive"
• Wales seems to have "passed the peak" in coronavirus cases, according to Public Health Wales
• An ex-Labour MP has urged Welsh ministers not to impose a "blanket ban" on the over-70s

Join us from first thing in the morning for all the latest updates from across Wales.

Image source, North Wales Little Tern Group

Electric fences have been installed to protect Wales' only breeding colony of Little Terns from the threat of quad bikes, Denbighshire council has said.

Council staff have completed the work at at Gronant Dunes, which acts a home to the colony of small, rare seabirds.

It came amid fears the Little Terns had faced recent threats from quad bikes driving over "vital" shingle nesting habitat.

The colony will continue to be monitored with a staff presence throughout the season, which runs from May to late July.

Police have previously suggested illegal off-road bikers have been worse in some parts of Wales during lockdown, due to them being able to access sites more empty than usual.

Councillor Tony Thomas said: “If left unprotected there is a real danger the Little Terns could be disturbed to an extent where they do not return and this iconic species is lost from Wales forever.”

Last year, 206 fledglings and 166 breeding pairs of Little Terns nested in Gronant, Mr Thomas said.

Wales could and would ease coronavirus restrictions at different times to England "if it's the difference between saving thousands of the lives of Welsh citizens", the health minister says.

There are concerns the large number of people living near the border and many in Wales consuming London-based media would make it practically difficult for Wales to go its own way on lockdown.

But Vaughan Gething said: "You can guarantee that we will make the right choice for Wales, including moving at a different time out of lockdown if it is the right thing to do but our preference is to have a joint four-nations conversation and a decision that works for each four countries within the UK."

In Prime Minister's Questions earlier Boris Johnson confirmed he would be setting out plans to begin lifting England's lockdown on Sunday, adding that he hoped to "get going on some of these measures on Monday".

Image source, Getty Images

High-tech surveillance techniques are being deployed to tackle "unscrupulous waste operators" taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has said.

The environmental body said social-distancing guidelines meant officers were unable to use their usual investigation methods.

So they have turned to sophisticated drone technology and satellite cameras to help track of waste criminals.

The new approach includes:

• Using drone footage to investigate illegal waste disposal
• Participating and benefiting from research and tools created in partnership with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
• Trialling the use of satellite imagery obtained from the European Space Agency, as well as high resolution commercial satellite data

Adrian Evans of NRW said: “Social-distancing is impacting on how companies supplying goods and services operate and waste criminals are taking advantage of this.

“We have had to modify our ways of working by developing technological solutions to support our work and ensure that waste operators comply with environmental regulations."

Testing is being extended to staff and residents without Covid-19 symptoms at care homes of more than 50 beds, the Welsh Government has confirmed.

Testing in care homes in Wales remains more restrictive than in England, where all residents and staff are being tested regardless of symptoms.

Following complaints that Wales was not following England on the measure the Welsh Government extended the policy - from testing just staff and residents with symptoms, to all those in a home where someone has tested positive.

First Minister Mark Drakeford told the Senedd evidence did not exist to show everyone in the sector should be tested.

He said larger care homes have a larger number of people going in and out of them.

But Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price claimed the policy unfairly discriminated against smaller care homes in rural and valleys communities.

Buying a bouncy castle, picking up a puppy or going for a spin are not valid reasons for being out and about during the coronavirus crisis, police have warned.

Dyfed-Powys Police inspector Andy Williams said the vast majority of people had made “extraordinary efforts” to comply with the new rules over the last seven weeks.

But he added some individuals continue to flout the rules – with their reasons for doing so ranging from misguided to bizarre.

These have included people driving from London, Luton, Bristol and beyond to buy or look at dogs, with one Manchester man telling officers his potential pet “wouldn’t be a puppy anymore” if he waited.

A Bath couple were caught trying to walk Pen y Fan, while two men stopped in Brecon had driven from Derby to pick up a remote-controlled car.

Meanwhile a couple were left deflated after officers told them a 100-mile round trip to Pembrokeshire to collect a bouncy castle was not considered essential travel.

And another couple stopped with a boot-full of fishing gear told officers they were going to collect some rice from a friend – despite their sat nav being programmed to Saundersfoot.

Image source, Dyfed-Powys Police

Image source, @NPASSouthWest/Twitter

Stunning aerial images of a quiet Cardiff during lockdown have been posted by flying police.

The National Police Air Service's south west team tweeted the shots of Cardiff Bay, the Dragon's Heart field hospital (aka the Principality Stadium) and Glamorgan's Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground.

"A few pictures of #Cardiff, external taken during our return leg from assisting @swpolice, external on the Bwlch mountain earlier this afternoon," the team tweeted.

Image source, Mark Hosking

Six weeks after leaving hospital, Wales' first Covid-19 patient says his breathing is slowly improving but he still struggles with fatigue.

Mark Hosking, 53, of Mumbles, Swansea, spent four days on a ventilator in an induced coma at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

He fell ill on returning from a skiing holiday to Italy in February.

Speaking of his recovery upon returning home, he said: "I was told take your time, don't expect to get back to full fitness quickly.

"When I came out of the coma with the ventilator I felt extremely fragile, very weak, and even leaving the hospital was a strange thing.

"To leave the security of the hospital was a big thing.

"There's a lot of mental issues you've got to think about, to bring yourself back into the world. But the world had changed a lot from when I went in to when I came out."

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has told today's UK government daily virus update that the daily number of tests dropped to 69,436, as the total remained below its 100,000 target.

After reaching the target by 30 April and again on 1 May the number has been below the mark, despite a capacity of 108,000 currently.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced at PMQs earlier that he had an ambition to reach a 200,000 capacity by the end of May.

In Wales, the current testing capacity is 2,100 with no target in place.

Image source, Downing Street

Prof Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England, told today's UK government briefing that authorities were "controlling" the transmission of the epidemic.

Unveiling the slide above, she noted that the number of deaths across the UK offered "less good" news than on hospitalisations.

But she said the "trend is good", and is "slowly coming down".

Image source, @NWPRPU/Twitter

Drivers continue to flout speed limits on roads which are quieter than usual due to the lockdown, police have said.

North Wales Police tweeted an image of a speed gun showing a 104 mph reading on the display.

"Yet another driver caught doing silly speeds on the the A55, external near Llangefni, external," its road policing team tweeted, external.

"Speeding is an offence and known to be one of the main causes of fatal and serious injury collisions. Help reduce demand on emergency services by driving safely."

Police forces have previously warned of drivers travelling at very high speeds, saying a crash could put a "huge strain" on emergency services.

Image source, Barcroft Media/Getty Images

Wales seems to have "passed the peak" in coronavirus cases, according to Public Health Wales.

But health officials - and politicians - have urged people not to be tempted to break social distancing restrictions over the coming bank holiday weekend.

Read more about what the figures show where you live.

There have been a further 649 coronavirus deaths recorded in the UK, taking the total to 30,076, UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said at the Downing Street briefing.

Wayne Rees says he is grateful for the proning technique which allowed him to avoid going into intensive care.

Mr Rees, 56, was admitted to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend after struggling to breathe.

But instead of being ventilated in an intensive care unit (ICU), he was given ventilatory support via a fitted mask and rolled onto his front for prolonged periods - known as proning.

He is the hospital's second patient to have avoided ICU after proning.

“I was very grateful that they gave me that chance as I did not fancy going under anaesthetic and having a tube put down my throat," said Mr Rees, who is recovering at home after 20 days in hospital.

“I was well looked after by the staff who were constantly monitoring me and I’m very grateful to them."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, Reuters

A race is speeding up in laboratories around the world to create a coronavirus vaccine to prevent deaths and kick-start the economy.

Virology expert Rich Stanton, of Cardiff University, said he was “cautiously hopeful”.

But he said the process from beginning to end normally takes 10 to 20 years.

This could potentially be compressed into 18 months, he said, if everything fell into place.

“If any one of those things doesn’t happen, then the timescale gets pushed back,” said Dr Stanton.

“Unfortunately, the only way to know if it’ll work is to try it and see.”

A team at Oxford University – now backed by UK government funding – has started a human trial, and said it hoped a million doses could be ready by September.

Dr Stanton said around 70 potential coronavirus vaccines were being trialled around the world.

“There is a huge amount of pressure to get this work done effectively and quickly,” he said.

“Science is quite competitive – in a lot of areas there is only a prize for first place.”

Brian Meechan
BBC Wales business correspondent

The Welsh Government supports calls from trade unions for a flexible approach to the furlough scheme by the UK chancellor.

What unions want to see is the avoidance of a "cliff edge" for the scheme, which sees the UK government pay 80% of the wages of workers who are not needed by their employer during the coronavirus outbreak.

At the Welsh Government's daily press briefing, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said it was important furloughing was "tapered" and did not come to an "abrupt end".

Image source, Getty Images

Unions want some staff to be able to return to work on a part-time basis with, for example, the employer paying 50% of wages and the UK government paying the other 50%.

CBI Wales also wants flexibility with some sectors being allowed to furlough staff for longer.

The Welsh Government says it is "unthinkable" UK ministers would end furlough "abruptly".

It added, however, that if they did, the Welsh Government would not be able to finance it for Wales due to the cost.

South Wales Police Ch Supt Dorian Lloyd has paid tribute to the public and police officers who responded to the knife attack in which John Rees died in Penygraig, Rhondda on Monday.

Police have now confirmed the Penygraig stabbing victim was John Rees, 88, from Trealaw, Tonypandy.

They have also released a tribute from his family:

“John was the very definition of a good man, extremely respected and liked in the community.

“He was proud of his family, proud to be a Welshman and devoted to All Saints Church.

"We will all miss him terribly.”

A routine car stop in Pembrokeshire has resulted in the arrest of a wanted prisoner.

The BMW was pulled over in Stepaside as part of a routine police check and the occupants said they had travelled from Cardiff to "go for a walk in Tenby".

Checks found the passenger was wanted on a prison recall and the driver was reported for breaching the non-essential travel guidelines.

The car was turned around, but again turned up at another check point at Penblewin.

This time it was escorted out of Pembrokeshire.

The Welsh Government will not risk creating conditions in which coronavirus "takes off again", the first minister has said.

Mark Drakeford told the Senedd his administration would take the "most careful and cautious steps forward" that will have the "best impact for the minimum amount of risk".

"Any step beyond lockdown is a risk", Mr Drakeford said, but he was not prepared to sign up to "any sense of a cavalier approach to risk in which we put people knowingly in harm's way".

Answering a question from UKIP's Neil Hamilton, Mr Drakeford agreed that the economy needed to be opened up again but added: "We are not going to create conditions in which coronavirus simply takes off again and spreads like wildfire to the whole population, creating huge spikes again in hospital admissions, overwhelming critical care capacity and so on."

Mr Hamilton had suggested to the first minister that "we have to take the risk that the infection rate of coronavirus will continue as it is, so long as we can protect the vulnerable" in order to "get the economy back on its feet".

The exchange came after Boris Johnson confirmed in Prime Minister's Questions that he would be setting out plans to begin lifting England's lockdown measures on Sunday, adding that he hoped to "get going on some of these measures on Monday".