Coronavirus in Powys: two more cases confirmed

The two new cases were among 22 announced in Wales overall on Saturday.

A further 34 were announced on Sunday afternoon. None of these were in Powys, although there are nine cases where the local authority area involved has not been established.

The new cases brought the overall total number in Wales to 94.

Swansea is the authority in Wales with the highest number of confirmed cases, with the four announced on Sunday taking its overall tally to 18.

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Public Health Wales is working within the phased approach to tackling the Novel Coronavirus outlined in the UK Coronavirus Action Plan - to contain, delay, research and mitigate.

“We are working with our partners in the Welsh Government, the wider NHS in Wales, and others now that we have entered the ‘delay’ phase.  This is now not just an attempt to contain the disease, as far as possible, but to delay its spread.

“The advice for the public changed. People no longer need to contact NHS 111 if they think they may have contracted Novel Coronavirus. Instead, anyone who has a high temperature or a new continuous cough should stay at home for seven days.  They should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital." 

The latest advice says that people should only contact NHS 111 if they feel they can't cope with their symptoms at home, their condition worsens, or if their symptoms do not get better after seven days.

“The public play an important role in this new phase," Dr Shankar added. "By following the latest advice, you will protect yourself, protect the most vulnerable, and delay and flatten the peak, which will reduce the pressure on NHS Wales and minimise the impact of the virus.

“The move into the ‘delay’ phase, will include working closely with health boards, NHS 111 and the Welsh Government towards transitioning away from community testing and contact tracing. Testing will now focus on cases admitted to hospital, in line with national guidance, and based on symptoms and severity.      

“The move away from community testing gives us greater capacity to test in hospital settings, where the most vulnerable patients will be cared for."

Public Health Wales is now attempting to trace anybody that has been in contact with the latest people found to have the virus, and the patients are been managed in "clinically appropriate settings".

On Friday, one case was found in Powys, while a medical centre in Llanidloes appeared to confirm on Facebook that one of the county's cases was in Caersws. That was followed by two further cases being announced in Powys on Saturday. 

Football matches in Wales have been called off, along with Wales' Six Nations rugby encounter with Scotland and the national football team's planned encounters with Austria and the USA.

And on Saturday morning, it was announced that Welshpool 10k on March 29 has been postponed, while the Rhayader Around The Lakes event on March 21 has been put off until next year.

The most common symptoms of coronavirus are recent onset of a new continuous cough, and/or a high temperature. Most people will experience only mild symptoms, but as a danger to people considered higher-risk, anybody found to have it is asked to stay at home for seven days after the symptoms started.

People are also asked to wash their hands more often, using soap and water or hand sanitiser when entering and leaving home or work, or after blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing, or handling food.

Dr Shankar added: “While there is no longer a need to identify every case through community testing, we will still need to and will be able to report on Novel Coronavirus level in Wales. In a similar way to our seasonal flu reporting, we will be undertaking routine Novel Coronavirus surveillance which will help us understand the picture in Wales. 

"We will therefore continue in the short term to report numbers of confirmed cases, which will give us some indication of the picture in Wales."