THREE new cases of coronavirus have been found in Powys within the last 24 hours..

Figures released by Public Health Wales show the total number of cases found in the county has risen from 373 to 376 since yesterday, although the true figure is likely to be higher.

Public Health Wales data relate to cases where coronavirus has been confirmed, and only include people who have died in hospital settings in Wales.

As such, this excludes people who have died in hospitals in England, those who have passed away in care homes, and those who died without having been tested to confirm the presence of coronavirus.

Powys Teaching Health Board has suggested Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to be the most accurate, as it shows deaths where coronavirus may have been present since the epidemic began

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that one more person in the county died after contracting a suspected case of Covid-19, taking the total number in the county to 95.

The figures are considered the most accurate representation of the spread of the disease in Powys, despite including cases where Covid-19 had not been confirmed in a laboratory, which the official data from Public Health Wales does not cover.

Dr Giri Shankar, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Our investigations into a number of cases of Coronavirus have indicated that a lack of social distancing, in particular by a minority of the 20-30 year age group, has resulted in the spread of the virus to other groups of people.

“I would make a direct appeal to young people to remember that even if they feel that they would not be badly affected by COVID-19 if they were to test positive for it, if they were to pass it on to older or more vulnerable family members, friends or colleagues it could be extremely serious, even fatal.

“Despite the lower infection rates in Wales, Coronavirus has not gone away. It remains the responsibility of everyone to help prevent the spread of this virus – that is, by self-isolating when asked to do so, staying two metres away from others, and by washing hands regularly.

“Particularly over this Bank Holiday weekend, we are also issuing a reminder to everyone of the importance of social distancing to keep everyone in Wales safe."