INFECTIONS UP, BUT HOSPITAL NUMBERS FALL
A FURTHER seven people have died with coronavirus in Wales, according to the latest figures from Public Health Wales (PHW).
New figures published yesterday, which cover the 24-hour period up to 9am on November 19, show the total number of Covid-related deaths in Wales now stands at 6,349. There were also 2,408 new positive cases recorded in the latest update, bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 487,152.
The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales, based on the cases for every 100,000 people (for the seven days up to November 15) now stands at 521.2 – up from the 512.5 reported on Friday.
The local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales is Gwynedd with 772.3 cases per 100,000 people, followed by Vale of Glamorgan with 695.4 and Torfaen with 567.3.
The test positivity rate across Wales is at 19.2%, where it has remained fairly stable for over a week now.
The areas of the country recording the highest numbers of new Covid cases are Cardiff with 256, Gwynedd with 188, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 164, Swansea with 155, Caerphilly with 151, Flintshire with 137, Vale of Glamorgan with 118, Bridgend with 116, Powys with 107, Carmarthenshire with 105 and Monmouthshire with 102.
The local authorities recording the fewest cases were Blaenau Gwent with 42 and both Anglesey and Ceredigion with 41.
As of November 18 there were 722 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus (confirmed, suspected, and recovering) – a fall from 744 – and 59 people in a ventilated intensive care bed with Covid-19, down from 60.
PHW vaccination figures are not updated over the weekend, but latest data shows that 2,461,876 people have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,255,461 have been given both doses.
To date 685,249 people have received their Covid booster vaccine, according to PHW, including three-quarters of care home residents (77.3%) and over-80s (76.2%), over two-thirds of healthcare workers (70.4%) and over half of all care home workers (60.9%).