Author: Rhys Gregory

AN online symptom checker to help people determine whether they may have contracted Coronavirus has had a million visits since its creation. The Welsh Ambulance Service’s Covid-19 Symptom Checker, which went live at the start of March, was designed not only to signpost users to the most appropriate care, but also to ease the pressure on its 111 service. To supplement the self-assessment tool on the NHS 111 Wales website, the corresponding NHS 111 Wales Facebook page has this week launched a ‘ChatBot’ to enable the public to check their symptoms via the social media platform too. Andy Haywood, the…

If anyone deserves a lap of honour then it’s Penny Seager-Davies who is only six years old but whose little legs have gone a very long way. Inspired by legendary NHS supporter Captain Tom Moore, the Swansea youngster ran 100 laps of the family’s garden – raising more than £1,000 to date for an NHS Wales appeal. Super-active Penny, who completed a 5k run a few weeks earlier has also become keen to find out more about key workers. Penny lives in Grovesend with parents Jason and Lisa Seager-Davies and three-year-old brother Clark, who joined her for part of the…

A woman from Porthcawl is inspiring people to Race for Life at Home and carry on the fight against the disease in these unprecedented times. Sarah-Jane Burns, 43, was heartbroken when her mum Joan Watkins died aged just 59 from bowel cancer on June 21 2008.To help raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK, Sarah-Jane was supposed to be tackling the Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday April 26 but unfortunately due to the coronavirus outbreak she has vowed to continue her marathon training at home. The learning support assistant was also hoping to mark her mother’s memory at the…

As UK and Welsh Government begin to look at how and when to ease lockdown measures, many of us naturally turn to how we can begin to reopen Wales and restart our economy in the coming weeks and months. Welsh firms have faced significant impacts from the outbreak of Covid-19. New FSB research found that 70% of firms in Wales have experienced a very negative impact on cash flow as a result of the pandemic. Only 3% have seen no impact on their cash flow, and 7.5% have seen a positive impact. Furthermore, almost a third of firms had concerns…

Swansea residents who make use of the city’s foodbanks and who are also pet owners have access to additional items thanks to the support of businesses. Swansea Council’s Cultural Services team has contacted a number of local suppliers and they have been overwhelmed by the thousands of items of pet food supplied by these businesses. Robert Francis-Davies, the council’s cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said: “The addition of the pet food to foodbank supplies is helping many pet-owning families looking to get through this crisis. “On behalf of the council, I thank the businesses that have donated to…

One of Cardiff’s biggest summer food events, Street Food Circus is bringing drive-in movies to the city this summer. From today, movie-goers can pre-register for the new Street Food Cinema events. Subject to final licensing the site at Splott Market Warehouse Complex will be open as soon as lockdown regulations allow. The planned Street Food Cinema will have capacity for 100 cars and space for five food trucks, including local favourites, Franks and Dirty Bird with more to be announced soon. Films on the bill will include classic movies, comedy, horror, sci-fi and singalong favourites. Diners will be able to order from their cars with food brought to…

The boss of Cardiff bike share operator nextbike today slammed vandals who have gone on a wrecking spree in the city, putting vital bikes out of action which were designed to help frontline NHS and essential workers get to work during the pandemic. Nextbike had joined forces with Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University to fund a scheme which enabled NHS workers and those offering essential support during the onslaught of coronavirus to use the bikes for free. Yet mindless vandals have set about destroying large numbers of bikes, crippling the service and costing thousands of pounds. Nextbike MD Krysia…

The suspension of steam-hauled passenger trains on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway is to continue until at least June 5. Announcing the further closure following a promised review, W&LLR general manager Charles Spencer said that despite the great ‘stay at home’ efforts by local communities, Covid-19 is still very much with us in Mid Wales. “For the safety of our visitors, we agree with the Welsh Government shutdown precautions and believe that we should not be operating trains at present,” Charles added. “Like the government, we’ll review the situation again at the beginning of June.” While most of the…

Swansea University Medical School has secured a prestigious funding boost to accelerate the transition from discovery research to development projects in the field of nanomedicine. Building on successful research developed by experts in the University’s Centre for NanoHealth, the 2020 MRC Confidence in Concept (CiC) award aims to accelerate discoveries towards translation and ultimately patient benefit. MRC CiC co-Investigator Prof Deya Gonzalez said: “The MRC CiC recognises Swansea’s strengths in nanomedicine, which have been developed effectively in the Centre for NanoHealth, and shows the value of bringing together researchers from biomedicine, chemistry, physics and engineering to develop new and much…

Wales is in a much stronger position to provide vital PPE equipment because of our relationships abroad and our ability to make things at home, Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, Lee Waters has said. It comes as manufacturing company Hardshell has brought in surgical mask making machines to create a new factory in Cardiff to produce up to a million fluid resistant face masks per day for health, social care and other key workers, in Wales and the rest of the UK. The Welsh Government has worked closely with Hardshell and assisted them with the logistics of transporting the…