FIVE new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Powys by Public Health Wales today.

There have now been 494 lab-confirmed cases of the virus in Powys since the outbreak of the pandemic, after five more incidents were confirmed in the latest figures released today.

Public Health Wales confirmed that the five new cases were all from Monday, September 28.

No more people in Powys have died from the virus, according to Public Health Wales, which puts the number of confirmed deaths of people due the virus at 15.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics, considered a stronger indicator of the overall impact of the virus, and which are based on all deaths where Covid is mentioned on the death certificate, stand at 95.

Powys stats:

Confirmed cases – 494

New cases in September 29 data – five

Rate of new cases per 100,000 in week to September 23 – 10.6

Rate of new cases per 100,000 in week to September 16 – 11.3

Powys position among Welsh local authorities for rate of new cases – 17th out of 22

The national picture

Across Wales, another 388 Covid cases were confirmed in Wednesday's figures, meaning that 23,985 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There was one newly-reported death, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus at 1,616 in Wales.

New local lockdowns come into force in Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham on Thursday.

Public Health Wales' statement

Dr Robin Howe, Incident Director for the Covid-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said:

“Public Health Wales supports the introduction of new coronavirus restrictions in four local authority areas in North Wales – Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham – following a rise in cases.

“The new measures will come into force at 6pm on Thursday, October 1, to protect people’s health and control the spread of the virus in the four areas.

“These arrangements are necessary in order to bring transmission of the virus under control in these areas. It is very important that we abide by the regulations in the areas in which we live and that we do not travel between local authority areas without a reasonable excuse.

“We thank the public in advance for sticking to these new restrictions, which are essential in reducing spread of the virus, protecting older and vulnerable people, and keeping Wales safe.

“Following the introduction of restrictions in the borough of Caerphilly, our data is beginning to show a downward trend, and although we cannot categorically say this trend is a result of lockdown, we are cautiously optimistic and we are looking at a number of alternative sources to validate these results.

“We remind people living in areas of Wales where there are currently no restrictions in place to remember, at all times, the importance of adhering to the regulations to prevent further local restrictions.

“The new restrictions mean that people living in the affected areas will not be allowed to enter or leave their local authority area without a reasonable excuse.

“They will not be able to meet indoors with anyone they do not live with for the time being – extended households (sometimes called a ‘bubble’) are suspended for the time being.”