Virus rate at new record high

WALES’ coronavirus infection rate continues to rise and has reached the highest level in the pandemic.

Latest figures from Public Health Wales (PHW), published yesterday, also revealed there were 12 further deaths with Covid, bringing the death toll in Wales to 6,086.

Additionally, there were 3,152 new positive cases reported, bringing the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 418,980. The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales based on the cases for every 100,000 people has now reached 716.9.

The areas of the country recording the highest numbers of Covid cases in the latest 24-hour period were Cardiff with 441, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 259, Swansea with 237, Newport with 220, and Caerphilly with 219, Neath Port Talbot with 169, and Vale of Glamorgan with 164.

Meanwhile, Pembrokeshire had 140 new cases, Bridgend had 134, Camarthenshire had 126, Blaenau Gwent had 103, and Powys had 100, and Gwynedd had 97.

The local authorities with the lowest number of new cases were Torfaen with 96, Ceredigion with 90, Monmouthshire with 87, Flintshire with 87, Wrexham with 76, Merthyr Tydfil with 61, Conwy with 61, Denbighshire with 56, and Anglesey with 33. As of last Thursday, there were 677 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus (confirmed, suspected, and recovering) – up from 673 – and 59 people in invasive ventilated beds in Wales with coronavirus.

Public Health Wales figures showed that 2,421,700 people have had one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,238,954 have had both doses. Additionally, PHW has begun releasing figures on the number of people who have received their Covid booster vaccine. To date, 322,591 have had it – including more than half of care home residents (56%) and healthcare workers (59.3%) and nearly half of care home workers and those over 80 years old.