Cases going up and first Welsh death recorded
A FURTHER 30 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Wales, Public Health Wales (PHW) has announced.
The number of confirmed Welsh cases now stands at 124, with the Swansea area having the highest concentration, with 19% of the total.
PHW said the residential areas of 12 of the new confirmed cases were not yet available, but as of yesterday, the Swansea local authority area had 23, Caerphilly and Newport had 14, and Cardiff had 11.
Only the local authority areas of Denbighshire, Gwynedd and Merthyr Tydfil had not registered a confirmed case.
A patient aged in their 60s at Wrexham Maelor Hospital became the first to die from coronavirus in Wales. They had underlying health problems, PHW said.
Dr Frank Atherton, the chief medical officer for Wales, said the patient was 68. He offered his “sincere condolences” to their family.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “I am deeply saddened that a person in Wales who had coronavirus has died.
“We continue to work hard to respond to this fast-changing situation, as the impact of the virus continues to increase in days and weeks ahead.”
Wales’s Health Minister Vaughan Gething said decisions around tackling the spread of coronavirus need to be “based on evidence” to save lives.
Speaking to reporters outside the Cabinet Office ahead of an emergency Cobra committee meeting yesterday, he said Wales’s first reported death from the disease “underscores the challenge” facing the country.
He said: “It also for me reinforces the need to make choices based on evidence to try to save as many lives as possible.
“There is no single easy answer.”
Mr Gething added: “Unfortunately, expect more lives to be lost in the coming weeks and months.”
Meanwhile, the Wales secretary of the National Education Union Cymru said he welcomed plans to suspend the education inspectorate Estyn from carrying out school inspections during the outbreak.
Teachers have been advised by school leaders to prepare online lessons for pupils in the event they have to learn from home, but the Welsh Government has said schools will remain open for the time being.
David Evans said: “We welcome the chief inspector’s plans to suspend Estyn’s activities.
“It is a rapidly developing and challenging time, especially for those working in education. Not having to worry about an Estyn inspection will be welcomed by members.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday that all people in the UK should avoid pubs, clubs and theatres, stop all non-essential contact and travel, and work from home if they can.
The Prime Minister set out the need for “drastic action” to tackle the “fast growth” of coronavirus across the UK as increased social distancing measures are introduced for the population.
It came as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 55 people in the UK have now died after testing positive for coronavirus.
As part of the measures, anyone living in a household with somebody who has either a persistent cough or fever must now also isolate themselves for 14 days.
All people should avoid gatherings and crowded places, while people who are vulnerable – including the elderly – will need to undertake even more drastic measures.
The Prime Minister said that according to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) “it looks as though we are approaching the fast growth part of the upward curve” in the number of cases.
“Without drastic action, cases could double every five or six days,” he said.
Mr Johnson said that from today, mass gatherings are something “we are now moving emphatically away from”.
He said: “if you or anyone in your household” had one of the two symptoms – a high temperature or continuous cough – “you should stay at home for 14 days”.
“That means that if possible you should not go out, even to buy food or essentials, other than for exercise, and in that case at a safe distance from others.”
Mr Johnson said all members of the public needed to take extra action. “Now is the time for everyone to stop nonessential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel,” he said.
Mr Johnson said: “We want to ensure that this period of shielding, this period of maximum protection, coincides with the peak of the disease and it is now clear that the peak of the epidemic is coming faster in some parts of the country than in others.”
He also said “unnecessary” visits to friends and relatives in care homes should cease.
Mr Johnson said the advice about avoiding all social contact was particularly important for people aged over 70, for pregnant women and for those with some health conditions.
By the weekend, those groups particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 will be asked to stay at home for 12 weeks to ensure they are “largely shielded from social contact,” he said.
The Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said these latest measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 would have a “big effect”.
Sir Patrick said other measures may be necessary – including school closures – at some point.
Chief medical officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty said measures to tackle the spread of the disease would need to be in place for a “prolonged period”, and the Government was trying to prevent “indirect deaths” – where people die because they cannot get the right medical care.
In other developments: ■ A British man is seriously ill with Covid-19 in Vietnam; ■ Children who develop a continuous cough or fever at school should be sent home with suspected coronavirus, new guidance says; and ■ The universal free TV licence for over-75s will end on August 1 instead of June 1, because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Expect more lives to be lost in coming weeks and months
- Vaughan Gething, speaking yesterday