As crowds enjoy bank holiday
SEVEN more people have died after contracting coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total to 1,267.
Public Health Wales also announced 140 new confirmed cases yesterday of the virus, to bring the overall total of confirmed cases to 13,309.
There were 2,426 tests carried out in Wales on Saturday, despite testing capacity being above 5,000.
Local authority areas which have reported no new cases since Saturday include Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, and Monmouthshire. However, previous weekends have seen a lag in reported numbers.
The place with the highest number of new cases is Denbighshire, with 31 new positive tests, followed by Rhondda Cynon Taf with 24 and Carmarthenshire with 12.
The number of people who have contracted coronavirus around the world has now totalled more than 5.3 million, with more than 300,000 deaths.
In Scotland, a total of 2,270 patients have died after testing positive for Covid-19, a rise of nine from Saturday, according to the Scottish Government.
The latest statistics in the country indicate 15,101 people have tested positive for Covid-19, up 60 from 15,041 the previous day.
There are 845 patients in hospital who have tested positive for Covid-19, up four from 841 on Saturday.
Of these, 33 were in intensive care, a fall of three in 24 hours, while 11 were in intensive care with suspected Covid-19, also down three.
NHS England announced 147 new deaths of people who tested positive for the virus in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals in England to 25,691.
Of the 147 new deaths announced on Sunday, 12 occurred on Thursday (May 21), 40 occurred on Friday (May 22) and 28 occurred on Saturday (May 23).
The figures also show 49 of the new deaths took place between May 1 and May 20, 16 were in April, and the remaining two occurred in March with the earliest new death on March 13.
NHS England releases updated figures each day showing the dates of every coronavirus-related death in hospitals in England, often including previously uncounted deaths that took place several days or even weeks ago.
This is because of the time it takes for deaths to be confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19, for post-mortem examinations to be processed and for data from the tests to be validated.
The figures published yesterday by NHS England show April 8 continues to have the highest number for the most hospital deaths on a single day, with a total of 891.
In Wales, public spaces grew busier over the course of yesterday, as blustery and wet conditions on Saturday gave way to bright and warm conditions that are forecast to remain throughout today.
The combination of warm weather and a bank holiday has led officials to voice concern over breaches of lockdown conditions, which remain tighter in Wales than in England.
While it’s now permissible to exercise more than once a day, it must still start and finish at home, and meeting friends and family members from different households – even with social distancing – remains against the Welsh Government’s guidelines.
Ahead of the weekend, the chief constable of South Wales Police, Matt Jukes, warned the public to continue to observe regulations over the weekend, and not put extra pressure on emergency services.
On a video message shared via the force’s Twitter account, he said: “As we go into another bank holiday weekend, I wanted to thank everybody for paying attention to the current Welsh Government regulations and guidance, and working with us to keep our community safe. Last bank holiday we had a busy, busy time.
“We have never taken more calls than we took on the Friday, and we had a Saturday that was as busy as any new year.
“A lot of people had a drink. That had some consequences for them and for people around them.
“So wherever you are, we hope you enjoy your time. If you are going to have a drink, please drink responsibly and safely.”
He added: “We also know that it is a big weekend and the end of Ramadan for our Islamic communities and I want to say Eid Mubarak and wish everybody well as they recognise Eid and that important festival in these very different circumstances.