12 more people die with 208 new cases

TWELVE more people have died with coronavirus in Wales and more than 200 new positive cases have been identified.

Figures from Public Health Wales (PHW) yesterday reveal 208 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the latest 24-hour period, a rise from 170 reported on Tuesday. This brings the total since the start of the pandemic to 204,196.

The number of people who have died with coronavirus in Wales within a month of a positive test now stands at 5,356.

The infection rate across Wales is now 57.1 cases per 100,000 population based on the seven days up to February 26, a drop on 60.3 cases reported on Tuesday.

The latest data also shows that 942,017 people have now received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, up 8,532 from the figure of 933,485 published 24 hours earlier.

Meanwhile, 124,781 people have now received both doses of the vaccine, a rise from 111,716 on Tuesday.

Gwynedd is now the local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales with a seven-day rate of 92.3 per 100,000, up from 86.7 on Tuesday.

In terms of new cases reported in the last 24 hours, Caerphilly is highest with 20, followed by Newport with 18, Wrexham with 17, Flintshire and Cardiff with 13 each, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 12, and Torfaen and Conwy with 10 each.

Across Wales the positivity rate of tests is 5.8% for the past seven-day period, down from 5.9%. This is below a key Welsh Government threshold for easing lockdown restrictions.

SIX men have been fined after they travelled to the Brecon Beacons from Coventry to use scrambler bikes despite coronavirus restrictions.

It comes after a joint operation was carried out in the Brecon Beacons to target people using off-road quads in the national park.

On Sunday, concerns were raised about the use of quad bikes. Dyfed-Powys Police, South Wales Police and Gwent Police, along with Brecon Beacons National Park wardens, worked together over the weekend to try to tackle the issue.

With the help of Special Constables, the operation saw 29 officers and staff cover land around Trefil Quarry.

Six men from the Coventry area were given Covid-19 fixed penalty notices for breaching the stay-at-home regulations having travelled to Wales intending to use scrambler bikes in the Brecon Beacons. Officers are urging people to remember that unnecessary travel is not allowed and it is not permitted to drive to a location for exercise while Wales is in an alert level four lockdown.

Inspector Gwyndaf Bowen said: “Operation Rover took place in response to community concerns regarding quad bikes. Using criminal, road traffic and public health regulations, we issued both advice to members of the public and prosecutions to those found breaking the law.”

THE UK’s economy is expected to take a hit in the first quarter of 2021 because of complications at the EU border caused in part by Brexit, according to a new estimate.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that trade is expected to have reduced between the UK and the EU, in part because of new restrictions introduced when the transition period ended.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to be 0.5% lower during the first three months of the year as a result, the OBR said.

It added that December’s agreement on the future relationship between the EU and the UK gave it “no case for altering” a prior assumption that new trade barriers would reduce the UK’s long-run productivity by 4%.

Official trade volume statistics are not due out until next Friday, however the OBR cited a 10% to 15% drop in heavy goods vehicle traffic.

However, it warned that it was impossible to say how much of this was down to Brexit.

Lorry drivers were subject to extra Covid-19 tests while crossing the border in January, in a bid to slow the spread of a more infectious strain of the virus from the UK into Europe.

This, along with the stockpiling businesses were likely to have done in preparation for border disruptions, has “clouded” the trade picture, the OBR said.

Nevertheless, it said that “taking all these factors into account, we now expect the temporary near-term disruption to EU-UK goods trade to reduce GDP by 0.5% in the first quarter of this year.

“This reflects both that exports appear to have been hit harder than imports and that the trade disruption will affect UK supply chains.”