Warning new virus peak on horizon

THE UK is at the “pre-peak stage of a third wave” of coronavirus, Welsh First Minister

Mark Drakeford has warned.

Mr Drakeford said eight out of 10 new cases of Covid-19 in Wales are believed to be from the Delta variant first identified in India, and that figures show the country is once again facing a “serious public health situation”.

Wales has joined both England and Scotland in postponing plans to relax restrictions due to fears of the impact of the variant on hospital admissions.

Scientific advisers believe a four-week delay in easing rules will be enough time to determine whether vaccinations have broken the link between getting ill from the disease and needing hospital treatment.

But Mr Drakeford said the delay will not be extended indefinitely “in search of perfection” from scientists if their findings are inconclusive.

At yesterday’s Welsh Government press briefing in Cardiff, Mr Drakeford spelled out the effect the faster-spreading strain of Covid-19 is having on the country.

“In just a few weeks, the Delta variant has entered Wales and spread quickly throughout the country,” he said.

“There is a sustained and accelerating pattern of transmission, not just in the north and southeast of Wales but in all parts of the country.

“That means that we are, once again, facing a serious public health situation. Our scientific advisers believe that the United Kingdom is now at the pre-peak stage of a third wave of this pandemic.”

Mr Drakeford said Wales’s case rate has more than doubled in a fortnight, to 23.6 cases per 100,000 people.

There were 488 confirmed cases of the variant in Wales on Thursday, he said, with the country “two to three weeks” behind England and Scotland.