300 new cases are confirmed as 21 more die

CARDIFF has become the county area with the highest Covid-19 infection rate in Wales, new figures have shown.

The figures come as it was revealed 21 more people have died with coronavirus across Wales, with more than 300 new positive cases identified across the nation.

Figures from Public Health Wales yesterday reveal 312 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the latest 24-hour period, a rise from 236 the previous day. This brings the total since the start of the pandemic to 202,872.

The number of people who have died with coronavirus in Wales within a month of a positive test now stands at 5,284.

The infection rate across Wales is now 75.4 cases per 100,000 population based on the seven days up to February 20, a slight drop on 75.7 cases reported yesterday. Infection rates have reduced to levels not seen since September but are now falling much more slowly than they were in January.

The latest data also shows that 889,270 people have now received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, up 10,764 from the figure of 878,506 published 24 hours earlier.

Meanwhile 69,851 people have now received both doses of the vaccine, a rise from 59,279 on Wednesday.

Cardiff has become the local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales with a seven-day rate of 103.8 per 100,000 population, up from 102.5 reported previously.

In terms of new cases reported in the last 24 hours Cardiff has the most with 40, followed by Newport and Rhondda Cynon Taf with 23, Neath Port Talbot with 22, Wrexham with 21 and Swansea with 20. Flintshire and Gywnedd had 18 new cases, Powys had 15, Bridgend had 14, Conwy had 13 and Monmouthshire had 12.

All others had single figures for new cases, including Caerphilly and Carmarthenshire with nine, Denbighshire with eight, Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil and Vale of Glamorgan with seven, Blaenau Gwent and Pembrokeshire with four, Torfaen with three and Ceredigion with one.

Across Wales the positivity rate of tests is down to 6.8% for the past seven-day period, which is below a key Welsh Government threshold for easing lockdown restrictions.

The highest rate is in Cardiff where 9.7% of tests have come back positive in the last week.