THE coronavirus response in Wales is a matter of carefully balancing the needs and safety of all residents, according to health minister Vaughan Gething.

Speaking at today's Welsh Government press conference, he said the number of Covid-19 deaths had fallen each week for the past six weeks, but he underlined the message that people and government were both responsible for ensuring those numbers continued to drop.

The government’s approach so far had been, and would continue to be, “properly cautious”, he said, and address the often conflicting concerns of various groups.

The first minister is widely expected to announce a further easing of the lockdown tomorrow, and retailers in Wales have already begun preparing to re-open their shops.

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But a step forward economically must not result in a step backward in terms of public health, he warned.

“If non-essential retail opens in Wales next week, I don’t want to see a repeat of crowds bunched together outside shops in complete breach of what social distancing guidance is supposed to deliver,” he said. “I don’t want to see workers put at risk, I don’t want to see shoppers put at risk.

“People need to take a step back and look at the position we’re in, and to recognise that the release from lockdown comes with responsibilities for all of us in the way that we choose to behave.”

That balancing act extends to other areas of the government’s coronavirus response.

Mr Gething, asked if schools were opening too quickly, said ministers were not asking staff to put themselves at risk. The decision to partially re-open schools also had to consider the prospects of those children who had missed months of their education, he added.

In response to a question about the fears and anxieties of vulnerable ‘shielding’ residents, the health minister said there were many people who wanted to go out and do more, while many others were worried about putting themselves at more risk.

He said the chief medical officers from around the UK were in talks on the future of ‘shielding’, which would consider residents’ wellbeing as well as their physical health.

On coronavirus testing, Mr Gething said all but 30 of Wales’ 1,200 registered care homes had taken up the offer for Covid-19 tests for staff and residents, but those 30 homes had not experienced any outbreaks of the virus.

He said 1,212 residents and 1,206 patients had tested positive for Covid-19.

This week, weekly antigen testing [which tells you if you currently have the virus] will be offered to all care home staff for the next four weeks.