CARDIFF COVID RATE HIGHEST IN WALES
CITY’S CORONAVIRUS SPIKE SEES 190 NEW CASES IN 24 HOURS
CARDIFF has become the area with the highest coronavirus infection rate in Wales, with more than 200 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days.
Latest figures from Public Health Wales (PHW) show the capital recorded more than twice as many new cases yesterday as any other council area in Wales.
In total, across Wales, the NHS body confirmed 727 new positive cases have been diagnosed following a lab test, a drop on the record-breaking 946 seen on Wednesday.
But Cardiff accounted for more than a quarter of those new cases, with 190. It means the capital now has 223.5 cases per 100,000 people based on a rolling seven-day average, up from 198.1 on Wednesday.
Fiona Kinghorn, executive director for public health for Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan’s Test, Trace, Protect service, said a number of factors have led to this recent surge.
“The steep increase can in part be attributed to the precautionary mass testing of students in one of the city’s halls of residence [Cardiff University’s Talybont South], and we expect to see numbers continue to rise in this group,” she said.
“However, the virus is prevalent across the city and we are seeing cases of coronavirus across all age groups and all areas of Cardiff.”
As well as cases per head of population over the past week, another key indicator of a particular county’s virus prevalence is the proportion of tests which are returned positive.
Here, Cardiff came out on top on Wednesday with more than one in 10 (13.2%) tests being positive, compared to 12.4% in Merthyr Tydfil, 11.1% in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) and Flintshire
and 10% in Bridgend, which came in at second, third and fourth highest respectively.
Less than a month earlier, for the week September 14-20, Cardiff was recording 39.8 cases per 100,000 and a positivity rate of 2.9%, which demonstrates just how quickly the virus is spreading.
The rise in cases is translating into hospital admissions with latest figures showing three Covid-19 patients in ventilated intensive care beds in Cardiff and the Vale health board hospitals.
There were also 85 confirmed, suspected and recovering Covid-19 patients in all Cardiff and Vale hospital beds as of Tuesday.
Of course, it must be noted that more testing is being carried out each day when compared to the height of the first wave, which will lead to more cases being identified
But why has Cardiff suddenly become one of the worst-performing parts of Wales, despite it being under a local lockdown?
Ms Kinghorn said: “There is an increasing trend in positive case numbers nationally and this is reflected in the latest numbers for Cardiff.
“The steep increase can in part be attributed to the precautionary mass testing of students in one of the city’s halls of residence (Cardiff University’s Talybont South), and we expect to see numbers continue to rise in this group.
“However, the virus is prevalent across the city and we are seeing cases of coronavirus across all age groups and all areas of Cardiff.”
She added that the only way we can stop the spread is if people work together.
“People should continue to keep their distance from others wherever possible, wash their hands regularly, and wear a face mask in public places,” she said.
“Transmission of Covid-19 is driven by close contact with people you know, usually indoors, either in family or social settings, or workplaces.
“To stop this spread people must observe the restrictions on not mixing indoors with those outside of their household group.
“Most importantly, anyone with symptoms of Covid-19 – a cough, a high temperature, or a loss of taste or smell – should book a test and self-isolate until they receive the result.”
As of Tuesday, the number of suspected or confirmed Covid-19 patients in all Welsh hospitals was 707. The last time it was that high was June 26.
To cope with the expected rise in hospital admissions in and around the Welsh capital, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB) is building a 400-bed coronavirus facility at the site of the University Hospital of Wales.
The £33m temporary centre is being created following the decommissioning of the Dragon’s Heart Hospital at the Principality Stadium.
The is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Cardiff and Vale UHB chief executive Len Richards said: “This will support our planning for increased capacity of up to 400 additional patients in response to the current modelling predictions and a second wave of Covid19.
“The build will be aligned to the decommissioning programme of the Dragon’s Heart Hospital at the Principality Stadium, which we will have vacated by the end of October, and will enable the WRU to start making their own plans at the stadium.
“As a health service, we will take on board all of the learning from Dragon’s Heart Hospital in terms of design and clinical requirements for a temporary surge hospital and work to the national modelling requirements.”
Meanwhile, the latest figures show Merthyr Tydfil now has Wales’ secondhighest rate of coronavirus cases at 198.1 cases per 100,000, a drop on 227.1 the day before, with Wrexham third with 192.7 per 100,000 population (up on 186.1).
The other local authority areas recording more than 100 cases per 100,000 included RCT with 178.2, Bridgend with 161.2, Conwy and Flintshire with 149.3, Swansea with 140.1, Blaenau Gwent with 131.7, Neath Port Talbot with 129.8, Denbighshire with 124.4 and Caerphilly with 109.9.
The all-Wales infection rate is 125.9 per 100,000, which is up on 122 recorded the day before.
Around 2.3 million people are now in local lockdowns across a vast swathe of Wales, including Cardiff, Swansea, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, RCT, Newport, Neath Port Talbot, the Vale of Glamorgan and Torfaen.
Several hospitals are now reporting Covid-19 outbreaks, including the Royal Glamorgan, the Royal Gwent, Princess of Wales, Prince Charles and Morriston.
Cardiff reported by far the highest number of new cases yesterday with 190, followed by Swansea with 84, RCT with 62, Bridgend with 46, Neath Port Talbot with 43, Wrexham with 34,
Caerphilly with 32, Carmarthenshire with 30 and Conwy and Newport with 20.
Other local authorities in double figures included Denbighshire with 17, Blaenau Gwent with 15, Merthyr Tydfil with 14, Monmouthshire with 13, Gwynedd with 12, Torfaen with 11, and Powys and Flintshire with 10.
Meanwhile, Vale of Glamorgan had nine, Anglesey had seven, Ceredigion had five and Pembrokshire had nine.
There were 35 cases from people outside Wales included in the figures, which Public Health Wales said referred to mainly young people with Welsh home addresses but who were currently living outside Wales.
Dr Eleri Davies, incident director for the novel coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, reaffirmed the importance of hand-washing to coincide with yesterday’s Global Handwashing Day.
She said: “While we’ve become used to seeing hand-sanitising stations in public places, we must remember that it’s just as important to wash our hands with soap and water regularly when we are at home, to reduce the spread of the disease.
“We have seen an increase in transmission of the coronavirus in social clubs, and would like to remind the public that the virus spreads really well in social situations.
“If you need to visit these type of venues, then:
Don’t mix with anyone other than the people that you live with;
Stay 2m apart from people that you don’t live with; and
If you are contacted by the Test, Trace, Protect service, then please be honest about where you have been and with whom – the contact tracers aren’t going to judge you, they are trying to restrict the spread of the virus. By giving them the correct information you will help others avoid infection, and possibly getting seriously ill.”