Infection rate drops for second day in a row

TEN more people have died with coronavirus, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales.

New data published yesterday and covering a 24-hour period, also shows 1,438 new positive PCR test results to bring the total since the pandemic began to 863,544.

The overall number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test in Wales now stands at 7,172.

The latest infection rate based on PCR tests for the seven days up to March 27 is 443.6 cases for every 100,000 people – a fall from the 451.7 cases recorded on Thursday. It’s the second day in a row that the infection rate has fallen.

The infection rate based on PCR tests is only a guide to the spread of Covid in Wales as it does not include lateral flow test results which are reported weekly in Wales. People with no symptoms who test positive on an LFT no longer need a confirmatory PCR test.

The latest data on lateral flow tests, for the week to March 27, shows an increase in positive tests. There were 32,465 positive test results reported in the last seven days. That’s up from 30,712 the previous week and the highest weekly figure ever recorded. The episode positivity rate increased from 22.83% in the previous week to 24.37% in the latest reporting week. Powys Teaching Health Board recorded the highest incidence rate of 1,135.1 positive testing episodes per 100,000 population.

In the seven days to March 27 a total of 39.2% of PCR tests across Wales gave a positive result – a fall on the 39.3% reported on Thursday. The highest positivity rates were in Blaenau Gwent (45.8%), Torfaen (43.1%), and Cardiff (41.9%). The highest infection rate (based on PCR tests) for the seven days up to March 26 was Blaenau Gwent with 701.4 cases per 100,000 population followed by Vale of Glamorgan with 526.2 and Merthyr Tydfil with 523.8.

In Swansea the rate dropped to 324.7, in Neath Port Talbot it was up to 339.1, in Carmarthenshire it dropped to 422.7 and it was down to 402.5 in Powys.

Rhondda Cynon Taf recorded the most positive cases over the latest 24-hour period with 120 followed by Cardiff with 118 and Caerphilly with 110. Swansea had 74 cases, Carmarthenshire had 67 Neath Port Talbot had 44 and Powys had 36.

As of March 31 there were 17 patients in ventilated intensive care beds with confirmed Covid19 – the same amount as the day before. Eight of them were based in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB), four were in Hywel Dda UHB, three were in Swansea Bay UHB, and two were in Betsi Cadwaladr UHB.