THE Welsh First Minister has defended the delay in launching an online system for key workers to book coronavirus tests.
Mark Drakeford said the new system had been tested throughout the week and he wanted to ensure it did not collapse under pressure, as it did in England.
The number of Welsh deaths has risen to 788, with more than 9000 now testing positive.
Despite daily testing capacity increasing to 1800, the number of completed tests fell from 1301 on Friday to 775 on Saturday, Public Health Wales said.
Drakeford said he wanted to ensure the online booking system worked before it was launched.
“We have been testing the system over this week and we have been using it already with some workers to make sure it will withstand the pressure it is bound to come under, and we hope to be able to use it more extensively next week,” he said.
“In England, where you have seen they have used it for the last two days, the system has fallen over within a couple of hours of it being released.
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“That is because of the demand that system came under. We want to try and make sure our system will be robust from the first day.”
Drakeford said he was “confident” there was enough personal protective equipment (PPE) available in Wales to meet demand, and more orders had been placed.
“Every single day we keep on top of it and, at the moment, we are confident we have enough to take us into next week,” he said.
He commented there was a shortage of fluid-resistant gowns across the UK, and although Welsh workers had enough for a further week, stores needed to be replenished.
“On most other items we are succeeding in replenishing our stocks as fast as we are giving them out,” he said. “Let’s be absolutely clear – we have not run out of anything and any requests we have had, we have met.”
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Drakeford admitted there were “potentially issues” with getting supplies to the front line once stocks left stores.
But Shavanah Taj, from Wales TUC, said the supply of PPE was a “real issue”, particularly in care homes, and added that she has heard “real horror stories” about care workers using makeshift PPE.
“We’ve had examples given to us this week, where a care worker was told that if you run out of aprons, the best bet for you is to use some black bin liners and make your own,” she said.
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