Covid infection rate leaps as eight further lives claimed

WALES’ infection rate has risen significantly over the weekend for the first time since October, latest Covid data reveals.

New figures from Public Health Wales, which cover a 48-hour period over the weekend, show 6,796 new cases and a further eight deaths.

The total number of deaths has now risen to 6,516 in Wales.

The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales has shot up to 548.4 cases per 100,000 people – on Sunday the figure stood at 501.3.

The local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales is Anglesey, followed by Flintshire and Denbighshire.

The test positivity rate across Wales is at 18.1%, up from 17%.

The areas of the country recording the highest numbers of new Covid cases are Cardiff with 1,088, followed by Rhondda Cynon Taf with 417, Swansea with 467, Caerphilly with 342, Vale of Glamorgan with 334, Newport with 327 and Flintshire with 317.

Counties in Wales which recorded fewer than 200 new cases were Powys and Torfaen with 185, Anglesey with 156, Merthyr Tydfil with 108, Ceredigion with 106 and Blaenau Gwent with 103.

As of December 17, there were 447 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus (confirmed, suspected, and recovering) – down from 463 – and 33 people in a ventilated intensive care beds the same number as the day before.

The figures also show that 2,482,756 people have now received one dose of the vaccine and 2,289,735 have been given both doses. Meanwhile, 114,436 more people have been given their booster jabs in Wales, with the total now standing at 1,311,804.