·     Travellers exempt from self-isolation: coronavirus (COVID-19) (Guidance) (25 August – update)

·     Written Statement: Extension of Integrated Care Fund and Transformation Fund (Health Minister) (24 August)

·     Chief Medical Officer advice on 21 day reviewTaking all reasonable measures to minimise the risk of exposure to coronavirus in workplaces and premises open to the public (Guidance) (22 August– update) Guidance under regulation 13 of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No.2) (Wales) Regulations 2020

·     Coronavirus regulations: frequently asked questions (Guidance) (22 August – update) What you and businesses can and cannot do during the outbreak and what happens if you break these new laws

·     Guidance on extended households: coronavirus (Guidance) (21 August - update) Rules that will apply to being in an extended household and advice about how to form one

·     The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulations 2020 (Legislation) (21 August) These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Wales) Regulations 2020.

·     The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 2) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulations 2020 (Legislation) (21 August) These Regulations amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2020

·     The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2020, as amended (21 August - update) (Legislation)

·     Chief Medical Officer advice on 21 day review (News story) (21 August) Advice provided to Welsh ministers by the Chief Medical Officer on the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions

·     Outdoor events to be trialled in Wales in latest easing of lockdown restrictions (Press release) (21 August)

·     Written Statement: Review of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2020 (First Minister) (21 August)

·     Written Statement: The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) (Wales) Amendments (Health Minister) (21 August)

·     Written Statement: Reporting to the Senedd on the making of Coronavirus-related legislation and use of powers under the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Health Minister) (19 August)

·     Brother Engineering plans to make half a million masks per day (Press release) (19 August) A Swansea based engineering company has adapted its way of working and is now producing surgical masks, creating new jobs and supporting the Welsh Government’s efforts to increase Welsh production of much needed PPE

·     Food boxes for shielded people: integrated impact assessment (Impact assessment) (19 August) A summary of the effects of the food box delivery scheme for shielded people

·     Impact of shielding on vulnerable individuals: integrated impact assessment (Impact assessment) (19 August) A summary of the effect of shielding on the extremely vulnerable group in Wales

·     Coronavirus control plan for Wales (Policy) (18 August) The coronavirus control plan for Wales sets out how we will all work together to manage the risks of coronavirus in Wales

·     Technical Advisory Cell: summary of advice 14 August 2020 (Report) (18 August)

·     Future planning for Coronavirus in Wales (Press release) (18 August) The Coronavirus Control Plan for Wales today (Tuesday 18th) sets out how all partners – including local government, health boards, businesses and the people of Wales - must work together to manage the risks of coronavirus

·     Written Statement: Investment to improve COVID-19 Testing Performance (Health Minister) (18 August)

·     COVID-19 infection survey: 7 to 13 August 2020 (Statistics) (21 August)

·     Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme statistics: up to 31 July 2020 (Statistics) (21 August) Data on the number and value of claims made, up to 31 July 2020

·     Personal protective equipment items issued: up to 16 August 2020 (20 August)

·     National Survey for Wales (monthly survey): July 2020 (20 August)

·     Test, Trace, Protect: contact tracing for coronavirus (COVID-19): up to 15 August 2020 (20 August)

·     NHS activity and capacity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: 20 August 2020 (20 August)

·     Testing data for coronavirus (COVID-19): up to 16 August 2020 (19 August)

·     Notifications of deaths of residents related to COVID-19 in adult care homes: 1 March to 14 August 2020 (18 August)

·     Covid-19 advice (FOI) (24 August) Copies of advice to local authorities regarding staff with covid-19

·     Covid-19 restriction (FOI) (20 August) Information on maintaining restrictions on gyms

·     Covid-19 testing (FOI) (19 August) Information relating to Covid-19 testing

Relevant publications

• NHS Continuing Healthcare: Blog by Dr. Arun Midha, Independent Chair of Continuing Healthcare reviews in both Wales and England, considering how not moving to virtual assessment panels, like in England to assess people’s healthcare needs mean patients and families in Wales face a backlog.
• COVID-19 infection in hospital: King's College London study of 10 UK hospital sites, plus one in Italy, found at least one in eight patients who had received hospital treatment for coronavirus had caught it on-site. Researchers said that was a relatively low rate and showed there was effective infection control in place. They analysed data on 1,500 cases to 28 April, covering the peak in the UK.
• Older People’s Commissioner: The Commissioner is calling for immediate action from the WG and other public bodies to ensure that older people are not ‘left behind’ as Wales begins to move towards its recovery from Covid-19. Her calls come alongside the publication of a new report, ‘Leave no one behind: Action for an age-friendly recovery’, which examines the significant impact that Covid-19 has had on older people throughout Wales, and sets out the action needed across a number of key areas – including social care and health, the economy, and our communities  – that must be delivered as we move forward to ensure that older people can participate fully in Wales’s recovery and can access any support they may need. This action includes:
  • Repealing sections of the Coronavirus Act that risk limiting older people’s rights to care and support.
  • Establishing a rehabilitation programme for older people who have been affected physically and/or mentally by Covid-19.
  • Public bodies should take action to ensure that public health messaging is communicated more effectively to older people.
  • Undertake community-level audits of vulnerable older people who have been digitally excluded during the pandemic and provide user-friendly devices with access to the internet.
  • Raise awareness of the risk of abuse and where to go for support through the media and via public bodies and network.
• RCN survey: The RCN has released the results of its Building a Better Future for Nursing survey.
• Bowel cancer outcomes: New research shows people with bowel cancer face poorer survival rates due to disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic to screening, diagnosis and treatment services. It shows that:
  • between April and June of this year, GPs made 336,242 urgent cancer referrals in England, compared to 594,060 in the same period last year, resulting in a 43% decrease;
  • over 210,000 people a week were affected by the halting of cancer screening, diagnostic testing such as CT, MRI and endoscopy services, which decreased by up to 70%;
  • treatment for cancer fell by up to 40%;
  • as a result, five-year survival rates for those diagnosed with cancer this year are set to fall from 16.2% to 15.4% for lung cancer, 85% to 83.5% for breast cancer, and from 58.4% to 51.6% for colorectal cancer. The researchers noted these cancer outcomes would be equivalent to those in 2017, 2012 and 2010, respectively.
• ONS statistics on COVID-19 and depression: The ONS has released data revealing that almost one in five adults (19.2%) were likely to be experiencing some form of depression during the pandemic in June – almost doubling from around 1 in 10 (9.7%) before the pandemic (July 2019 to March 2020).
• COVID-19 and type 1 diabetes in children: The Independent reports that a study has suggested COVID-19 could be linked to the onset of type 1 diabetes in children, after finding some hospitals had seen twice as many young patients with the condition compared to normal. A growing body of evidence has suggested the autoimmune disease may develop alongside coronavirus.
• Mental health care: In a new survey in the UK, and an international review of evidence from 29 countries, mental health care staff report how the pandemic and the lockdown have been harmful to some people accessing mental health services. The first study is a survey of 2,180 mental health professionals in the UK, and the second is a summary of reports from 872 papers and articles across six continents.

• Social care: The NHS Confederation published a letter to the Prime Minister last week calling him to honour his pledge to fix social care “once and for all” and to set out a timetable for reform. This letter comes alongside the most recent NHS Reset report, Social care: time to grasp the nettle, which makes the case for major social care reform.
• Survey of older people in Wales: Age Cymru has launched a survey to gather the experiences of people aged 50 or over in Wales during the Covid-19 lockdown and their aspirations for recovery from the pandemic.