Number of new infections the highest since start of pandemic
THE number of new coronavirus infections reported in the last 24 hours in Wales has hit a new daily record.
The latest figures from Public Health Wales (PHW) yesterday show that 596 new positive cases have been identified following a lab test. It is the highest figure since the pandemic began.
It takes the overall total of confirmed Covid-19 cases to 26,447 since the outbreak began last March.
PHW also said that no new deaths among people who had tested positive had been reported to them, which means the total remains at 1,630.
Meanwhile, the NHS body is concerned about an increase in cases in Gwynedd. Health Minister Vaughan Gething said that many of the cases are coming from the university population in Bangor.
Around 2.35m people are now in local lockdowns across Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Cardiff, Swansea, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly borough, Llanelli, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Newport, Neath Port Talbot, the Vale of Glamorgan and Torfaen.
These are the key details announced yesterday: ■ Deaths reported: 0 ■ Cases reported: 596 (up from 432 on Sunday) ■ Number of tests carried out: 10,665 (up from 8,966 on Sunday) ■ Total deaths with lab-confirmed coronavirus in Wales: 1,630
Cardiff reported the highest number of new cases yesterday with 91, followed by Rhondda Cynon Taf with 77, Swansea with 59, Neath Port Talbot with 36, Bridgend with 27, Merthyr Tydfil with 24, Wrexham with 22, and Newport and Carmarthenshire with 20 each.
Other local authorities reporting double figures included Flintshire with 18, Torfaen and Denbighshire with 15, Gwynedd with 14, Blaenau Gwent with 12 and Caerphilly with 11.
Pembrokeshire had nine new cases, Powys, Ceredigion and Monmouthshire seven, Anglesey five and Conwy four.
There were 79 cases from people outside of
Wales included in the figures, which PHW said referred to mainly young people with Welsh home addresses but who were currently living outside Wales.
These are the areas’ seven-day rolling totals for new cases (September 25-October 1). All figures are cases per 100,000 people: ■ Merthyr Tydfil: 192.3 (Up)
Rhondda Cynon Taf: 184.4 (Up) ■ Blaenau Gwent: 121.7 (Down) ■ Bridgend: 119 (Up) ■ Cardiff: 113.7 (Up) ■ Swansea: 107.7 (Up) ■ Flintshire: 94.2 (Up) ■ Wrexham: 89 (Up) ■ Neath Port Talbot: 80.2 (Up) ■ Denbighshire: 66.9 (Up) ■ Conwy: 64.8 (Down) ■ Torfaen: 60.7 (Up) ■ Gwynedd: 57.8 (Up) ■ Carmarthenshire: 57.2 (Up) ■ Newport: 56.2 (Down) ■ Vale of Glamorgan: 52.4 (Down) ■ Caerphilly: 50.8 (Down) ■ Ceredigion: 37.1 (Up) ■ Monmouthshire: 29.6 (Up) ■ Powys: 26.4 (Unchanged)
Pembrokeshire: 16.7 (Up) ■ Anglesey: 14.3 (Up) ■ Wales overall: 84.5 (Up)
Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the novel coronavirus outbreak response at PHW, said: “Local restrictions are now in place in Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan, and Wrexham local authority areas, and in Llanelli.
“These arrangements are necessary to bring transmission of the virus under control. It is very important that we abide by the regulations in the areas in which we live, and that we do not travel between local authority areas without reasonable excuse.
“We are now also seeing an increase in cases in Gwynedd, and for that reason we urge people to continue to follow the public health guidance: self-isolate when asked to do so, stay two metres away from others, and wash your hands regularly.”