13 more die as 2,200 further cases pile pressure on the NHS

ANOTHER 13 people have died with coronavirus in Wales and more than 2,200 new positive cases have been identified.

Latest figures from Public Health Wales yesterday show 2,281 new cases of the virus have been recorded to bring the total since the pandemic began to 146,706. The death toll now stands at 3,429 in Wales.

Following the latest figures, the infection rate is now 436.4 cases per 100,000 people based on the seven days up to December 25.

That means the infection rate has been falling for several days and has not been this low since early December.

These figures are based on the date tests were done, not the date test results were included on the system, meaning it is an accurate reflection of the extent to which the virus is spreading rapidly in Wales. The data is correct up to 9am on December 29.

The percentage of tests that produce positive results is now 20.3% in Wales. However this continues a downward trend in recent days from a peak of 27% on December 13.

The rise in cases has been partly blamed on a “new variant” of the virus. However, estimates from the ONS suggest it not the dominant strain in Wales yet and is causing far fewer of the infections than in parts of England. This data suggests it is causing just over 10% of infections in Wales.

Bridgend is now the local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales with a seven-day rate of 841.2 cases per 100,000 population, a big decrease from 949.3 on Tuesday.

Merthyr Tydfil now has the second-highest rate with 752.6, down from 895.1, and Blaenau Gwent is third with 654.1 cases, down from 740.0 the day before.

The three areas with the highest percentage of tests coming back positive remain Bridgend with 31.2%, Neath Port Talbot with 28.1%, and Blaenau Gwent with 25.8% in the week to December 25.

Cardiff had the highest number of new cases yesterday with 262, followed by Swansea with 219, Carmarthenshire with 187, Wrexham with 167, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 166, Bridgend with 156, Vale of Glamorgan with 127, Flintshire with 116 and Caerphilly with 111.

Other local authorities reporting high numbers included Newport with 93 and Neath Port Talbot with 83.

Those reporting cases below 40 included Pembrokeshire with 38, Ceredigion with 35, Blaenau Gwent and Conwy with 27, Anglesey with 18 and Gwynedd with 16.