THE COLLAPSE of a contract for testing kits leaves a significant shortfall in the number of tests available in Wales, but will not derail the Welsh Government's long-term testing targets.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething had previously set out that from tomorrow, April 1, Wales would be able to provide 6,000 tests a day.

However, the collapse of contract, which was for 5,000 testing kits, has left the Welsh Government able to provide a significantly lower number of tests.

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Speaking at a press conference earlier today Mr Gething said: "We had a written undertaking, an agreement between us and we had a clear agreement for that company's team to come in to Wales to set up the infrastructure required to set up those additional tests.

"The statement I made was about our ability to get to about 6,000 tests a day because of the additional 5,000 tests that we were due to get.

"This week we will be going ahead with over 1,100 tests a day in Wales.

"You will see an increase [in testing] but there is no getting away from the fact that those additional tests that we were due to have would have made an earlier difference for us.

"Our focus has got to be on providing more tests with the resources we have got."

Mr Gething said Wales were aiming to be providing about 5,000 tests a day "in two to three weeks," and within a few weeks a new antibody test would be made available.

By the end of May, the Welsh Government expects to have another 4,000 tests through a UK-wide agreement.

Mr Gething said more than 1,000 frontline staff have been tested so far, and testing has also been rolled out to some social care workers.

He also said the number of people who had recovered from the disease will become clearer after the introduction of the new antibody test.

Mr Gething said more than 1,300 people had returned to work in the NHS after a call for retired staff to return last week.

"Here in Wales, more than 1,300 health and social care professionals have already answered the call in the first week of the recruitment drive and said that they are willing to return to work.

"That includes 670 doctors and 460 nurses and midwives plus 194 allied healthcare professionals.

"There are a 3760 medical, nursing, midwifery, paramedic and health professional students who could also be available to work within our NHS.

"It is really heartening to see people returning to work in the NHS at this time. It's a fantastic show of the resilience and the dedication by so many in such unprecedented times."

More than 1,000 people a day last week signed up as volunteers to support their community, with almost 22,000 signed up in total, said the health minister.