The weeks ahead will be challenging and the demands on our health and care system will continue to grow. That is why I took early action to make sure that our health and social care services are as prepared as they can be for what lies ahead.

Our response to this crisis has been to build on our long-term plan for health and social care, to strengthen the structures in place, and to bring forward at pace further measures to strengthen our resilience. For example: 111 and NHS Direct Wales online have been key to the provision of advice; digital solutions are being rolled out rapidly, such as the ability to provide video consultations in primary care and as an alternative to out-patient appointments; the strengthening of regional partnership boards has positioned them to provide integrated health and social care responses to local communities; the establishment of Health Education and Improvement Wales is helping us to address the considerable workforce needs.

I have also taken more difficult decisions so that we are ready to care for larger numbers of very unwell people to make sure that we can save more lives. By temporarily scaling down non-urgent elective activity 10 days ago, health boards have had time to prepare in a more planned and measured way. Across hospital sites, urgent action has been taken to increase critical care capacity and to redeploy and train staff in readiness for the increased demand that we expect to see.

As of yesterday, occupancy of critical care units was about 45 per cent. About 15 per cent of the patients either have suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19. We have plans in place to immediately double the number of critical care beds in Wales to just over 300. Extensive work is being undertaken to maximise the number of ventilated beds that can be provided in Wales, including the purchase of over 600 additional ventilators, and we continue to urgently explore further options.

I decided last week to bring forward the opening of parts of the new Grange University Hospital near Cwmbran. This will provide an additional 350 hospital beds by the end of April. Urgent discussions are also under way with the private hospital sector in Wales to secure additional capacity.

I have agreed to a temporary relaxation of contract and monitoring arrangements for primary care practitioners to ensure the safety of patients and staff. Within that, community pharmacies continue to be on the front line, and they'll be even more important in helping to support vulnerable groups of people who have been advised to self-isolate for many weeks ahead.

I know that there has been quite understandable concern about the availability of personal protective equipment, or PPE. I've taken steps to enhance the arrangements in Wales for protecting our front line health and care staff who are caring for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

I have authorised a significant push of personal protective equipment to the seven health boards, the Welsh ambulance service and Velindre. Whilst anyone who suspects they may have coronavirus should stay at home and should not visit a primary care setting, as a safety measure, PPE has been supplied to all GP clinics, out-of-hours services and pharmacies. Social care has an essential role in our response to COVID-19, and I've authorised PPE to also be released for use by social care providers. Significant deliveries have arrived yesterday, and a further lot are going out today.

I turn now to our workforce. We all recognise that each and every person working to deliver our front-line services will already be under immense pressure, and I do not think there are sufficient words to express my gratitude to our health and social care staff who continue to work tirelessly to care for people in all of our communities.

We know that things will get worse before they get better. That is why we're taking further unprecedented action to support our current workforce. People who have left or retired from health and social care in the last three years are being asked to re-register with their relevant professional bodies or, in social care, to contact their local authority.

We're also exploring ways to harness the skills of students who are keen to contribute. Final year medical students, student nurses and student social workers are all being offered the opportunity to take on temporary fully paid roles to further boost the front line. Those who join will be given a full and proper induction and training.

It is vitally important that we all do everything within our power to stop the spread of coronavirus: to wash our hands regularly, to reduce social contact, to adhere to the advice on social distancing, and to stay at home if you are particularly vulnerable. We are writing out to vulnerable people whose existing health conditions make them susceptible to becoming very unwell with coronavirus. We're asking these people to take even more stringent measures to shield themselves from this virus. We're working with GPs, local authorities and the voluntary sector to make sure that these people can access all the services they need to support them during the difficult weeks ahead.

The situation we face is unprecedented. The weeks ahead will be more challenging than any we have known in 20 years of Welsh Government. Please, look after yourselves and look after each other.