Cases of flu rise as Covid infections decline
CASES of flu and other respiratory conditions have increased in Wales over recent weeks, according to experts.
Public Health Wales’ (PHW) influenza and acute respiratory infection surveillance reports that while Covid infections have dropped, confirmed flu cases have risen to indicate the start of “late seasonal activity”.
Rhinovirus, the main culprit behind the common cold, and parainfluenza are currently the most commonly-detected causes of acute respiratory infection (ARI) aside from Covid, with “increasing confirmed cases in recent weeks”, PHW states.
During Plenary on Tuesday, Welsh Conservative MS and Shadow Health Minister Russell George asked Health Minister Eluned Morgan if she was concerned about a “wave” of these infections over the coming weeks and into the summer months.
“We are watching very carefully the increase in the numbers of people suffering with flu at the moment. We’re probably more worried about it kicking off in the winter,” said Baroness Morgan.
“We are continuing with our Help Us to Help You programme to direct people to the right care at the right place at the right time and that is already having an impact.”
Despite these concerns, the Health Minister said flu cases are at low levels compared with what would normally be seen during the winter pre-covid.
According to latest data from the Office for National Statistics, Wales remains the UK nation with the highest Covid-19 infection rate despite cases falling.
It is estimated that 131,600 people in Wales had the virus in the week ending April 30, equating to 4.33% of the population or around one in 25 people.
In England, around one in 35 (2.91%) had Covid in the week ending April 30, while it was one in 30 in Scotland (3.55%) and one in 40 (2.45%) in Northern Ireland.
Baroness Morgan added: “Community transmission of the BA2 Omicron wave of Covid-19 continues at a very high level across Wales.
“There are still 1,064 Covid patients in hospital, that’s 11% down from last week although only 78 of these are being actively treated for Covid, while 15 people are in critical care.
“The health and social care system is still struggling with the demands of Covid-19. High levels of staff absence and other pressures continue.
“We must maintain our efforts to reduce transmission within hospital settings. Limiting visitor numbers, maintaining social distancing and rigorous application of infection prevention and control measures remain important.”
Last week the Welsh Government decided to retain the compulsory use of masks in health and care settings for a further three weeks.
“I understand how challenging the past two years have been, in particular for those working in health and social care. There’s been much hard work and sacrifice and I applaud their ongoing efforts as we continue to take steps to keep safe the most vulnerable and the staff working in these high-risk settings,” the Health Minister added.
The World Health Organisation epidemiological summary, dated April 27, reports that the number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths globally has continued to decline since the end of March.