‘Virus is still out there and it can still kill you’

THE total number of deaths involving coronavirus in Wales has now reached 2,122.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday, there were 134 deaths involving Covid-19 in the week up to May 22.

It is the lowest weekly total since the start of April, and the fourth week in a row the total has fallen.

But a top doctor at a Welsh hospital has given a stark warning from the frontline following a drop in new cases.

Intensive care consultant Dr David Hepburn, who works at Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital, says the virus “hasn’t gone away” as he and his colleagues have witnessed new cases.

On Twitter he said: “So from the frontline – we have new Covid cases back in ITU [Intensive Therapy Unit] after two weeks’ calm.

“It’s still out there, and it can still kill you or make you very ill indeed. Ignore Cummings or any of that bulls***. Keep your friends and family safe. It hasn’t gone away.”

Speaking to the Echo, Dr Hepburn added: “It’s been slowly getting better, but over the last couple of days, we’ve had a few more new cases in. So it hasn’t gone away in the community.

“We hadn’t had any new cases for quite a while, probably for a good 10 days, but over the last 48 hours we’ve had some new ones.

“It could just be a blip. But it could also be the start of a new surge – it’s a bit too early to tell, really. Time will tell.”

At the start of the pandemic, Dr Hepburn himself contracted Covid19, recovering and returning to work on the frontline.

The comments were echoed by Health Minister Vaughan Gething who yesterday warned coronavirus could return to Wales “with a vengeance”.

Speaking at the daily Welsh Government press conference, he said Wales had passed the first peak of coronavirus but warned another peak could come during the winter when the NHS is at its busiest – and he said some lockdown restrictions could be reintroduced in the winter should that happen.

Mr Gething said it will all depend on the “reservoir” of Covid-19 which exists at the time, as well as people’s behaviour.

His comments followed a statement from Wales’ chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton who warned that the virus is “likely to thrive in cooler, indoor environments particularly where people gather closely together”.

Dr Atherton recommended that messages to the public highlight “the potential need to re-impose more restrictive measures in the winter if viral activity increases”.

Mr Gething said: “Some of the measures that we’ve been able to unlock are because of the time of year we’re in.

“We know that coronavirus lasts a lot less in direct sunlight outdoors but lasts a lot longer on indoor surfaces. We do need to think about the fact we may have to reintroduce some lockdown measures in the winter.”

The minister also encouraged people not to be put off from seeking urgent care because they are worried about going to hospital during the pandemic.

He said it was important not to put off urgent or emergency treatment.

Meanwhile, the latest all-Wales figures show the virus has accounted for 19.4% of all deaths registered in the last week.

The number of all deaths overall fell to 692 – but this is still 78 deaths higher than the five-year average for this week, so-called “excess” deaths.

This is often used as a way of comparing deaths to what we might typically expect to see at this time of year, with the likes of seasonal illnesses such as flu.

This is 12.7% above average, the lowest proportion outside southwest England.

The number of deaths in care homes in Wales is also falling – it was 44 deaths in the week ending May 22. This is around a third of all deaths from the virus.

Cardiff still has the highest number of deaths, 341, and Ceredigion the lowest, with seven.

Rhondda Cynon Taf – when population size is taken into account – still has the highest death rate in Wales, with 104.5 deaths per 100,000, which is a total of 251 deaths.

Across the UK, the figures show there have been almost 62,000 deaths above what would normally be expected, in the UK.

The number of weekly deaths involving coronavirus in Wales and England fell by almost a third in a week and reached its lowest level for seven weeks.

The UK death toll is the highest in Europe and second highest in the world, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

There were 56,308 excess deaths in England and Wales between March 21 and May 22, compared with the average number of deaths for that period over five years.

It follows figures last week showing the equivalent numbers for Scotland and Northern Ireland, which, when added together, take the total number of excess deaths in the UK across this period to 61,795.