Wales’ Covid rate reaches highest level since January

WALES yesterday recorded more than 2,000 new coronavirus cases in latest 48 hours for figures, as the nation’s Covid rate hit the highest level since late January.

The latest update from Public Health Wales (PHW) confirmed 2,053 more positive cases, to bring the total since the pandemic began to 230,619.

And three more people have died after contracting Covid-19, bringing the death toll to 5,589.

Wales’ infection rate now stands at 177.3 cases per 100,000 population based on the seven days between July 8 and July 14 – up on the 161.1 recorded on Sunday. It has not been this high since the end of January.

Nineteen of Wales’ 22 local authorities are now reporting more than 100 positive cases per 100,000 people.

The figures are based on the date a test was done, not the date a test was put on the system, meaning it is an accurate reflection of how fast the virus is spreading in Wales.

PHW no longer updates coronavirus figures on a Saturday, which means yesterday’s update covers cases identified in the 48 hours before 9am on Sunday. For the remainder of the week, the updates each cover a 24-hour period. The latest figures come just days after First Minister Mark Drakeford said nearly all coronavirus restrictions on people and businesses in Wales are set to be lifted on Saturday, August 7.

As at Friday, there were 126 people across Wales in general and acute hospital beds with confirmed (75), suspected (20) or recovering (31) cases of coronavirus. This was down on the 130 the day before.

The Delta variant has become by far the most dominant strain in Wales, with Public Health Wales stating on Thursday that 5,601 cases have now been identified – up 1,935 on the 3,666 recorded a week ago.

To date, 2,282,410 people in Wales have had at least one coronavirus vaccine, with 1,925,084 having both doses.

Cardiff reported the most new cases yesterday with 231, followed by Denbighshire with 176, Flintshire with 128, Conwy with 121 and Rhondda Cynon Taf with 120.

Wrexham reported 108 new cases, while Swansea had 107, Powys had 89, Bridgend had 86, Newport had 79, the Vale of Glamorgan had 78 and Pembrokeshire had 66.

Carmarthenshire had 61, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire and Torfaen each had 53 while Neath Port Talbot reported 43. Gwynedd had 35 new cases, Merthyr Tydfil had 34, Blaenau Gwent had 27, Ceredigion had 23 and Anglesey 18.