Parts of Swansea Bay now ‘areas of concern’ for virus
THE patch of south west Wales covered by Swansea and Carmarthenshire councils is now officially ‘an area of concern’ as latest coronavirus figures continue to rise.
The Wales figures for Covid-19 rose yesterday, approaching the April peak of the pandemic.
Six areas of Wales are now in special local lockdown, with Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Bridgend and Blaenau Gwent joining Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf on the list of restricted authority areas.
Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the novel coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said yesterday: “We are continuing to see a steady increase in cases in many communities across Wales, and our investigations show that many of these have been transmitted due to a lack of social distancing.”
He added: “The council areas of Cardiff, Swansea, the Vale of Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire, Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire and Flintshire are all areas of concern to us and we are watching the data from there carefully, but numbers of cases are increasing in all parts of Wales so there is no room for complacency in any area.
“We are also seeing an increase in the number of people who are seriously ill and have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19.
“We are concerned that much of the good work conducted over the past few months is at risk of going to waste.
“If the situation continues to worsen, we may find ourselves at the same levels of infection that we experienced earlier this year in March and April; and with that comes the potential for more extended restrictions to be imposed nationally.
“Coronavirus has not gone away. It remains the responsibility of everyone to help prevent the spread of this virus to protect older and vulnerable family members and friends. They should do this by self-isolating when asked to do so, staying two metres away from others, and by washing hands regularly.”
First Minister Mark Drakeford said yesterday that since September 1 there have been Covid cases in 275 schools with 140 students and 145 staff affected. Of these schools, 198 had only one case.
The First Minsiter said this meant they had been “imported to the school rather than been spread in the school environment”.
He added that the Welsh Government “will prioritise the testing of teachers and school staff”.
■ Dunvant Primary School ■ Trallwn Primary School ■ Olchfa Comprehensive School ■ Pontarddulais Comprehensive School ■ Bishopston Comprehensive School ■ Penyrheol Comprehensive School ■ Gorseinon College ■ Bank Statement ■ No Sign Wine Bar
■ Halfway Primary School ■ Carway Primary School, Kidwelly ■ Swiss Valley Primary School ■ Burry Port Community Primary School ■ Ysgol Pen Rhos, Llanelli ■ Graig Campus, Coleg Sir Gar ■ Tafarn y Felin, Swiss Valley ■ South Star Cafe and Pub ■ Thomas Arms Hotel ■ Drefach Cricket and Football Club ■ Last night, Hywel Ddda University Health Board announced they would be setting up a mobile testing unit at a car park at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli.