23 further deaths and 5,705 positive cases
A FURTHER 23 people have died with coronavirus in Wales according to latest figures from Public Health Wales (PHW).
The data published yesterday also revealed there were 5,705 new positive cases, bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 377,734.
The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales based on the cases for every 100,000 people (seven days up to October 4) has risen slightly again and now stands at 492.9 – a slight increase on the 489.4 reported on Thursday. The figures announced on Friday are for the 48-hour period up to 8am on October 8, according to PHW.
The local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales is now Torfaen with 718.4 cases per 100,000 population over seven days. Test positivity rates across Wales now stands at 15.2% with Torfaen having the greatest proportion of tests coming back positive at 19.4%. Test positivity has been slowly falling for the last month after peaking at 22% across Wales in the first week of September.
Areas of the country recording the highest numbers of Covid cases in the latest 48-hour period were Cardiff with 2,132, Swansea with 1,312, RCT with 1,148, Caerphilly and
Carmarthenshire with 1,078 each, and Vale of Glamorgan with 877.
Pembrokeshire had 732 new cases, Neath Port Talbot had 720, Torfaen had 675, Newport had 657, Flintshire had 615, Bridgend had 613, Gwynedd had 536, Denbighshire had 517, Conwy had 502, Wrexham had 493, and Powys had 477. The local authorities with the lowest numbers of cases were Anglesey with 342, Monmouthshire with 314, Blaenau Gwent with 248, Ceredigion with 226, and Merthyr Tydfil with 206.
As of yesterday there were 567 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus – up on the 547 reported in the figures as of October 6.
Aneurin Bevan UHB had the most Covid patients in general and acute hospital beds on October 7 with 149, followed by Betsi Cadwaladr UHB with 124, Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB with 103, Cardiff and Vale UHB with 87, and Swansea Bay UHB and Hywel Dda UHB with 52 apiece.
On Wednesday Public Health Wales figures showed 2,389,159 people have had one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,228,122 have had both doses. The Pfizerbiontech vaccine has begun to be administered to 12 to 15-year-olds this week. Infection rate for every 100,000 people in each area for the seven days up to October 4: ■■Blaenau Gwent: 355 (down from 399.4) ■■Newport: 424.8 (down from 446.1) ■■Caerphilly: 595.3 (up from 562.2) ■■Torfaen: 718.4 (up from 682.2) ■■Monmouthshire: 332 (up from 320.3) ■■Conwy: 428.3 (down from 430) ■■Anglesey: 488.3 (up from 485.4) ■■Gwynedd: 430.3 (up from 411) ■■Denbighshire: 540.3 (down from 594.6) ■■Flintshire: 394 (down from 408.1) ■■Wrexham: 362.6 (up from 361.2) ■■Cardiff: 581.1 (up from 542.1) ■■Vale of Glamorgan: 656.5 (up from 626.6) ■■Merthyr Tydfil: 341.5 (down from 376.3) ■■Rhondda Cynon Taf: 475.8 (down from 489.5) ■■Bridgend: 416.9 (down from 435.2) ■■Carmarthenshire: 571.1 (down from 577.9) ■■Pembrokeshire: 581.8 (up from 517.4) ■■Ceredigion: 310.9 (up from 309.5) ■■Powys: 360.2 (up from 314.9) ■■Neath Port Talbot: 502.4 (down from 567.3) ■■Swansea: 531.2 (down from 541.3)
Wales total: 492.9 (up from 489.4)