Five more deaths and over 900 new test results

FIVE more people have died in Wales after testing positive for coronavirus and close to 1,000 new positive cases have been recorded.

Yesterday’s latest figures from Public Health Wales (PHW) show 979 new positive cases have been diagnosed following a lab test, the most ever recorded in a single day.

The NHS body also confirmed five more people had lost their lives with the virus to take the total since the pandemic began to 1,703.

Cardiff remains the local authority with the most cases per 100,000 people based on a rolling seven-day average with 236.8, up on 223.5 on Thursday.

Bridgend now has the second highest rate at 183.6 per 100,000, up from 161.2 the day before, while Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) was third with 176.2 (down on 178.2 yesterday).

The other local authority areas recording more than 100 cases per 100,000 included Wrexham with 173.6, Merthyr Tydfil with 170.7 (a significant decline over the course of the last week), Flintshire with 153.1, Blaenau Gwent with 148.9, Swansea with 147.4, Conwy with 138.2, Neath Port Talbot with 136.8, Flintshire with 119.1 and Caerphilly with 111.6.

The all-Wales infection rate is 128.7 per 100,000, which is up on 125.9 recorded the day before.

Cardiff reported the highest number of new cases with 175, followed by RCT with 120, Swansea with 86, Bridgend with 79, Neath Port Talbot with 52, Caerphilly and Flintshire with 51 and Blaenau Gwent with 30.

Other local authorities in double figures included Newport and Carmarthenshire with 28, Wrexham with 26, Torfaen with 24, Conwy with 22, Merthyr Tydfil with 21, Vale of Glamorgan with 19, Gwynedd with 18, Monmouthshire with 16, Denbighshire with 15 and Pembrokeshire with 12

Meanwhile, Powys had nine, Ceredigion had four and Anglesey had two.

There were 82 cases from people outside of 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.