A man who was given "almost zero" hope of recovery after contracting Covid-19 is "still incredibly weak" but "awake and making little improvements each day", his wife has said.

Father-of-two Mal Martin, 58, from Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, was taken to Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital a week after "feeling unwell" and has been on a ventilator for 45 days.

His wife Sue has previously described the agony of having to say goodbye following her husband's prognosis.

Today she tweeted: "Thanks to everyone asking after Mal.

"He is still on a ventilator & critical in ICU & incredibly weak.

"But he is awake and making little improvements each day thanks to team caring for him.

"Not yet out of the woods & it’s going to be a long and slow journey for him #keepgoingmal, external x"

Image source, Sue Martin

Jared Thomas says he is trying to inject some excitement into his life by getting into the kitchen and cooking something nice.

The 26-year-old is hungry for work, but the coronavirus outbreak means financially stretched customers have little appetite for his tree surgery services at the moment.

"Everybody's life has been turned upside down," he says.

"I really don't know when work will pick up. I'd be surprised if it does for the next month or two."

Like so many other young employees, it may feel that he has been forgotten in this economic crisis.

Jared, from south Wales, says he started this work too recently to be eligible for the government's financial support for the self-employed. Instead, he has claimed the universal credit benefit for the first time, so he can pay the rent.

Image source, Jared Thomas

BBC Radio Wales

Employers and workers in Wales have been reacting to the UK government's furlough scheme being extended for a further four months.

Charlotte Phillips, an estate agent at Watts & Morgan in Cowbridge, is one of the 7.5 million workers in the UK receiving 80% of her wages through the scheme.

She told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast with Claire Summers: "We had the option of taking a council tax break for two months, which I did, and the cost of spending has gone down slightly as I'm not in work, or going out, so at the moment it is manageable."

She said if the scheme had been cut to 60% she would have struggled to manage.

She said she was "really relieved" by yesterday's announcement.

Alison Lea Wilson, the co-founder of Halen Mon sea salt company on Anglesey, which has furloughed 40% of its staff, said the scheme gives her "breathing space".

"It is incredibly difficult, even now, to plan ahead," she said.

"When we first hit the crisis, we lost a lot of sales, and now they are beginning to come back, and we talk to our customers, but they can't tell how busy they will be, so there is still this sort of huge uncertainty around everything.

"So, as much help as we can get now, we will take."

Lockdown rules are now different in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But where does that leave those who live on a border, or live in one country and work in another?

In Wales, people cannot travel "a significant distance" from home.

Police forces have the power to fine people for making non-essential journeys and that includes those travelling from England into Wales.

In Chepstow in Monmouthshire - which borders Gloucestershire - Natalie Davies said she was concerned about the consequence of increased travel.

She said: "If we have more freedom now, potentially within two weeks from now, the R rate could have increased greatly and then we are left with obviously more infection again in the area, we could go back down again into a much stricter lockdown."

The advice for people returning to work in England has been to avoid public transport because of social distancing.

Tim Melville, from environmental group Transition Chepstow, said he did not want to see a return of the commuter congestion through his town, which is known as the "Gateway to Wales".

BBC Radio Wales

A hospice in Llandudno is aiming to recover some of its £1m in losses due to the coronavirus pandemic by selling t-shirts featuring the goats who shot to fame when they took over the town earlier this year.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast with Claire Summers, St David's Hospice said it had been "hit from all directions" by the pandemic.

"We have had to close 26 charity shops, across North West Wales, and most of our face-to-face fundraising for our events, our lottery collections door-to-door have all stopped for the foreseeable, and we have also had to send our volunteer workforce home, which means we can't run things like our cafes," said Margaret Hollings, head of fundraising for the hospice.

"The annual costs of running St David's Hospice is more than £4m, and day to day that works out at around £7,000 to be able to sustain our inpatient services, our outreach hospice at home and our two-day therapy centres.

"So whilst we feel we are quite a cost-effective service, obviously it is a lot of money to raise per year in terms of fundraising.

"We have no idea how and when we can actually recover some of those income streams, so that is the biggest challenge.

"Ninety per cent of our income workforce have also even been furloughed, together with volunteers, with no ability to have flexibility to raise funds other than to stay at home and do what they are doing and hope to recover as soon as possible.

"The UK government gave us a lifeline a couple of weeks ago where they issued £200m to hospices across the UK, but the reality for St David's Hospice is that equates to about £197,000 for three months, April to June, so beyond that, we have uncertainties.

"We will still be over £1m short by the end of the year, and we have to find that money to be able to sustain our clinical services."

Aston Martin made a pre-tax loss of £119m for the first three months of 2020.

The luxury carmaker said their sales dropped between January and March due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The company’s losses during the same period in 2019 were £17.3m.

Work has resumed at the company's St Athan plant in Vale of Glamorgan that produces its new DBX sports utility vehicle.

Aston Martin Chief Executive Lawrence Stroll said: "With St Athan reopened safely last week, I am extremely pleased that DBX remains on track for deliveries in the summer and has a strong order book behind it extending into 2021."

Image source, ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA

All mini, junior and youth football league seasons in Wales have been ended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Football Association of Wales has announced.

The FAW’s National League Board has also taken the same decision with academy football leagues.

In a statement, the FAW said: "A decision on the conclusion and method of ending the season will be discussed further by the FAW Board of Directors in due course and communicated to the Area Associations thereafter."

The FAW had already suspended senior football at all levels in Wales.

Image source, Getty Images

Five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this morning.

Garden centres have become the first businesses allowed to reopen to the public - first in Wales and from today in England - since the government shut down non-essential shops.

But why were they singled out and how will they cope with business in the pandemic?

For gardeners at home, it's been a frustration not to be able to plant during one of the most beautiful springtimes the UK has seen in years.

"As an industry we have missed probably the best spring that any of us can remember," says Boyd Douglas-Davies, president of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) and director of British Garden Centres, a 57-branch chain.

Image source, AFP

Wales’ Health Minister Vaughan Gething has been criticised by an opposition politician after The Sun newspaper published a photo of him sitting on a picnic bench and eating chips with his family.

Andrew RT Davies, a Conservative member of the Senedd (MS) tweeted: “Smell something fishy here, pardon the pun.

“Welsh Labour's health minister breaks his own government's guidelines (can't picnic or sit at a bench for a prolonged period) on Saturday, and then those guidelines are mysteriously changed on the Monday...”

The Sun reported: “Labour’s Welsh health minister tucked into chips at a picnic table despite telling people to 'stay at home and save lives'.

“Vaughan Gething, 46, was snapped with his wife Michelle and their five-year-old son eating the takeaway snack over the Bank Holiday weekend…

“But Gething's own strict lockdown rules - which were relaxed on Monday - stated that 'spending a prolonged period on a park bench' was not allowed.”

Yesterday Mr Gething tweeted: "Really disappointing that The Sun are planning to print a photo of me on a walk with my wife and young son on the weekend.

"Our 5 year old was hungry and we bought some chips - all within the rules."

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Absolutely nothing the Minister is reported to have done contravenes Welsh Government regulations.

"Walking and eating food along the way with members of your household is allowed.”

The UK economy shrank at the fastest pace since the financial crisis in the first quarter of 2020 as coronavirus forced the country into lockdown.

The Office for National Statistics said the economy contracted by 2% in the three months to March, following zero growth in the final quarter of 2019.

The UK's dominant services sector suffered a record decline.

Analysts expect a bigger slump in the second quarter, before the economy starts to recover.

Image source, Getty Images

Small businesses need government cash to help staff to socially distance during the pandemic, an employers group has said.

By law, companies in Wales must make sure staff can follow the two-metre rule during the restrictions.

But the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said cash was needed for changes to get staff back to work.

The Welsh Government said it was doing all it could to support employers and workers.

In a report, the FSB calls for a number of measures and schemes to help shops, small hotels, and businesses to survive and get back up and running when restrictions are eased.

Chairman Ben Francis said: "There must be a plan to assist firms as they seek to navigate such uncertain terrain."

Image source, Getty Images

Puppies bought during lockdown could be abandoned once restrictions are eased, rescue workers fear.

Internet searches for "buy a puppy" increased by 120% during the first month of coronavirus restrictions, according to the Dogs Trust.

Now staff at a Carmarthenshire shelter have urged people not to buy a puppy during lockdown.

Owner of Many Tears Rescue Centre, Sylvia Vanatta, said new owners may be unable to commit once back in work.

One-year-old jackapoo Leo (pictured) arrived at the Many Tears Centre in Cefneithin four months ago, after he was almost put down due to his owner being unable to cope.

A vet in Swansea contacted the centre saying Leo was showing signs of aggression and his owner was struggling.

Ms Vanatta said Leo was an example of how a dog can pick up bad habits from not being socialised properly from a young age.

Credible plans to test, track and trace coronavirus are vital if lockdown measures are to be lifted in Wales, opposition parties say.

Welsh Health minister Vaughan Gething is expected to set out proposals later.

A leaked report suggested about 30,000 tests a day may be needed but ministers believe far fewer will be required.

The Conservatives said "hope and vision" on leaving lockdown had been "severely lacking", while Plaid Cymru called the plans "very much overdue".

Since its report was leaked, Public Health Wales has said its analysis now suggests the number of tests needed would be in the range of 7,500 to 17,000 daily but that 10,000 tests a day would be a "realistic requirement".

Good morning. Thanks for joining us for Wednesday’s coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Wales.

Here’s a recap of what happened on Tuesday:

• A further 16 people with coronavirus had died with coronavirus in Wales, Public Health Wales announced. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed there have been 1,641 deaths involving coronavirus here
• Closing the border between Wales and England to stop people breaking Welsh coronavirus lockdown rules is not a "real option", Health Minister Vaughan Gething said. It comes after different rules were announced by the Welsh and UK governments
• An English Tory MP's call for the Welsh Parliament to be abolished was described as "wrong and unhelpful" by a Welsh colleague in the Commons