INFECTION RATE STILL CLIMBING

A FURTHER eight people have died with coronavirus in Wales, according to the latest figures from Public Health Wales.

New figures published yesterday, which cover the 24-hour period up to 9am on Thursday, show the total number of Covid-related deaths in Wales now stands at 6,342. There were also 2,456 new positive cases recorded in the latest update, bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 484,744.

The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales, based on the cases for every 100,000 people (for the seven days up to November 14) now stands at 512.5 – a rise from the 504 reported on Thursday. With the seven-day infection rate having fallen below 500 for the first time since early October, it’s climbing beyond this number again.

But the number of patients in hospital with coronavirus has gone down.

The local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales is Gwynedd with 709.7 cases per 100,000 population over seven days, closely followed by Vale of

Glamorgan with 682 and Torfaen with 573.6.

The test positivity rate across Wales is at 19.2%. Positivity has hovered around 19% in the past week and has remained fairly stable.

The areas of the country recording the highest numbers of new Covid cases are Cardiff with 246, Rhondda Cynon Taf 188, Swansea with 176, Carmarthenshire with 145, Wrexham with 135, Caerphilly with 127, Vale of Glamorgan with 114, Neath Port Talbot with 110 and Bridgend and Pembrokeshire with 107 each.

As of Thursday there were 722 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus (confirmed, suspected, and recovering), – down from 744 – and 59 people in a ventilated intensive care bed with Covid-19 on November 18, a drop on the 60 reported the day before.

Public Health Wales figures showed that 2,461,876 people had received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,255,461 had been given both doses. To date, 685,249 people have received their Covid booster vaccine according to PHW.