THE Welsh Ambulance Service is asking people with a new cough or high temperature to only call the 111 number if their symptoms are "considerably worsening".

New advice issued by UK governments yesterday is that people with a new cough or high temperature should stay home and stay isolated for seven days as the county tries to get to grips with coronavirus pandemic.

Other advice has seen people urged not to visit relatives living in care homes in Powys unless it’s “absolutely essential” so they can protect their loved ones from coronavirus.

Mario Kreft, the chair of Care Forum Wales, said care homes were “safe havens” for elderly and vulnerable people so it was vital to ensure the highest possible standards of infection control.

He said: "Simply put, not visiting care homes is likely to save people’s lives."

Mr Kreft, who also owns eight care homes in Wrexham and Caernarfon, has also said older patients who no longer need hospital care should be transferred to care homes and red tape should be cut to enable that to happen and free up hospital beds.

He said Care Forum Wales was in regular contact with Welsh Government health experts and they were passing on the latest scientific advice to their 400 plus members across Wales.

Mr Kreft said: “In my organisation, Pendine Park, we’re already significantly reducing the number people entering homes and we’ve introduced washing stations outside each of them.

“We’ve got to do everything that we can to ensure that people are safe, and I would say this to anybody who wants to visit a loved one in a care home to think very, very carefully because totally accidentally this virus could be transmitted.

“I think it’s very important that we recognise that care homes will be a safe haven.

“There has been a lot of talk about cocooning people. It makes a lot of sense as a principle to use our care homes.

“There are over 20,000 people in care homes in Wales and over 500,000 in the UK.

"The other important thing now is to make sure that we get as many people into the sector where there is capacity.

“It is important to relieve pressure on the NHS which is already pretty much at capacity.

“The message from Care Forum Wales is that we have to ensure that we make the room that is needed in our NHS."

Carol Shillabeer, chief executive of Powys Teaching Health Board said: "The general public can help protect themselves and their communities by following Public Health Wales Advice, particularly around washing hands and using a tissue for cold and flu type symptoms."

The advice is to sneeze or cough into a tissue and to immediately discard it into a bin.

What to do if you are worried about coronavirus

People are asked in the first instance to use the online symptom checker which asks for symptoms and offers information and advice on what to do in stages.

People without internet access can call 111. The Welsh Ambulance Service has acknowledged people have had problems connecting and said it working to fix those issues.

If you have symptoms of Coronavirus you should stay at home for 7 days. Symptoms are: a high temperature, a new continuous cough

Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. There is no need to contact 111 to tell them you’re staying at home.

GP Out of Hours services should only be used by those people who need urgent ( but not life threatening) medical attention from their GP practice outside their normal opening hours that will not wait until the next working day. Access to GP Out of Hours services is through the 111 service

Advice for those self-isolating

You should only contact 111 if:

you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home

your condition gets worse

your symptoms do not get better after 7 days

For life-threatening situations you should dial 999 as usual.”

Advice from Public Health Wales is available at https://phw.nhs.wales/coronavirus