Another 20 die in Wales as 6,398 new cases confirmed

A FURTHER 20 people have died with coronavirus according to latest figures from Public Health Wales (PHW).

The data published on Monday, October 18, which covers a 48-hour period, also revealed there were 6,398 new positive cases bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 401,644. The 20 additional deaths recorded brings the overall toll within 28 days of a positive Covid test to 6,035 in Wales.

The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales based on the cases for every 100,000 people (seven days up to October 13) now stands at 560.4

– a steep rise on the 529.3 reported on Sunday.

The local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales is now Torfaen with 793.9 cases per 100,000 population over seven days followed by Cardiff with 772.4 and Pembrokeshire with 746.3.

Test positivity rates across Wales have risen to 19%, with almost a quarter of people in Pembrokeshire having their test come back positive (24.2%) – the highest of any local authority.

The areas of the country recording the highest numbers of Covid cases in the latest 48-hour period were Cardiff with 815, Caerphilly with 608, RCT with 547, Neath Port Talbot with 422, Newport with 369, Pembrokeshire with 333, Swansea with 327, Carmarthenshire with 317 and Vale of Glamorgan with 307.

Meanwhile Blaenau Gwent had 285 new cases, Torfaen had 276, Bridgend and Powys both had 218, Monmouthshire had 215, Denbighshire had 188, Flintshire had 161, and Gwynedd had 151.

The local authorities with the lowest numbers of cases include Wrexham with 140, Conwy with 126, Merthyr Tydfil with 113, Ceredigion with 84 and Anglesey with 71.