THE "phenomenal" work of healthcare staff throughout Wales and the wider UK has been praised by health minister Vaughan Gething.

And he took a moment too, at the daily Welsh Government coronavirus briefing, to reflect on and remember people who died of the disease during the Easter weekend.

"Every number is a person with family and friends who will be mourning their loss," said Mr Gething.

He also spoke of the importance of social care in our society. Something which he says is often overlooked.

"Without it, the demands on our NHS would be impossible to meet," he said.

"In normal times, I hardly ever get asked about social care, but we are beginning to see it's importance.

"Without it, we would be lost."

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With this in mind, Mr Gething announced that from today a new card will be launched, which will enable social care workers to be as easily recognisable as their NHS counterparts.

An extra £40m will also be made available to adult social care.

"I recognise the pressures on social care services," said Mr Gething.

"The money comes from the £1.1bn fund from the Welsh Government."

Asked about whether the issues with procuring Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which other parts of the UK have experienced, are also being seen in Wales, Mr Gething said that the Welsh Government were 'working extremely hard' to ensure PPE was being sent where it was needed.

"Over 35million items of PPE have been issued in the last few months," he said.

"More than 12m of those have come from our pandemic stocks.

"This has made a significant impact on local authorities.

"We're also working with Welsh companies to make sure as much of the PPE as possible is made here in Wales.

"I'm concerned that we are not always using all of the tests which are available.

"We must maximise the use of the capacity which exists.

"We must ensure people can get the tests they need as quickly as possible."

Mr Gething was also asked why Wales has not yet reached its target of seeing 9,000 coronavirus tests carried out each day.

We need to do more to maximise more of the capacity that exists," he said.

"We are continuing to expand.

"Twelve local authorities have referred social care workers for tests but all local authorities can do this.

"If I was a frontline health worker sat at home self-isolating knowing there was that capacity available, I'd be really frustrated."