Coronavirus in Powys round-up – Friday, December 11

The latest figures take the total number of confirmed cases in the county since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,688.

There have been no more deaths with the virus in Powys according to Public Health Wales (PHW) stats, whose death toll remains at 29.

However, with Powys being a border county, many of its sickest patients end up being transferred to hospitals in England, so deaths of Powys residents usually only appear in registrations reported later by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

ONS figures, considered a stronger indicator of the overall impact of the virus, and which are based on all deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate, stand at 126 in the county.

Updated figures from PHW show exactly where coronavirus is on the rise within the Powys community.

There map shows that while Welshpool still has the highest number of cases in Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, the number of new cases found has fallen sharply across the county, with the exception of Llanidloes, and to a lesser extent, Builth.

Llanidloes, which also includes Blaen Hafren and Llandinam, is sixth highest for overall positive coronavirus cases since the pandemic began – there have been a total of 96 confirmed in the region. Ystradgynlais and Tawe Uchaf, in the south of the county, perhaps predictably lead the way in Powys with 284 total cases, given its proximity to south Wales, where the rate is skyrocketing.

Brecon (146), Welshpool (134), Newtown (123) and Crickhowell, Llangynidr and Llangorse (109) all have more total cases, but it is in the last three weeks and seven days where panic is starting to creep in, in regards to Llanidloes.

From November 17-December 7 Llanidloes’ figures have jumped to 55, with 31 of those being recorded in the last seven days, from December 1-7. That means 57 per cent of the region’s total Covid-19 figures stem from the last three weeks, and 32 per cent in the last week.

Llanidloes’ recent figures are second in Powys to only Ystradgynlais (36 last seven days, 79 last three weeks).

Powys stats:

Confirmed cases – 1,688.

New cases in December 11 data – 32

Rate of new cases per 100,000 in week to December 8 – 119.3

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

Newly-confirmed cases day-by-day:

Friday, December 11 – 32

Thursday, December 10 – 43

Wednesday, December 9 – 10

Tuesday, December 8 – 12

Monday, December 7 – 23

Saturday/Sunday, December 5/6 – 63

Friday, December 4 – 17

The national picture:

Another 29 people in Wales have died with Covid-19, with 2,234 new cases, Public Health Wales said.

First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned a post-Christmas lockdown will come into force if the number of coronavirus cases does not begin to fall.

Mr Drakeford said stricter rules were not a "foregone conclusion".

A five-day relaxation of rules begins across the UK on December 23. But with more than 1,900 Covid patients in hospital there is pressure for tougher rules from December 28 amid fears the NHS will not be able to cope if admissions continue to rise.

The announcement follows a decision to close secondary schools and colleges from Friday, ban alcohol sales from pubs and restaurants, and close hospitality venues at 6pm. Outdoor attractions will be told to shut in an announcement expected later on Friday.

Next week the Welsh Government will publish a "Covid control plan" laying out four alert levels of restrictions that could be imposed.

At the highest level – level four – restrictions would be imposed that are equivalent to a lockdown.

Mr Drakeford told a press conference: "I must be clear with you – if the strengthened measures of last week and the extra actions of this week, together with the efforts of each and every one of us do not succeed in turning the tide of the virus – then it is inevitable that we will have to move to alert level four after Christmas."

Level One would be the closest to normality Wales is likely to have before the summer and the widespread take-up of vaccinations

Level Two has "additional, targeted controls", possibly complemented by local restrictions to manage specific incidents

Level Three would see the "strictest package of restrictions, short of a firebreak or lockdown" implemented

Level Four would have restrictions equivalent to lockdown

Public Health Wales' statement:

Dr Robin Howe, incident director for the coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Public Health Wales is concerned at the high levels of coronavirus in nearly every part of Wales and we note that the Welsh Government will be publishing an updated coronavirus control plan next week.

“On Friday, December 11, there will be planned maintenance of the NHS Welsh Laboratory Information Management System (WLIMS) to allow for essential service upgrades to take place.

“This will affect our daily reporting of coronavirus figures, and therefore there will be no release of daily figures on Sunday, December 13. There will be a period of data reconciliation and validation that will affect our daily reporting figures for several days after this downtime.

“Public Health Wales is also making some changes to the way we publish information on our website and data dashboard.

“From Monday, December 14, we will be changing the daily ‘data correct as of’ from 1pm the previous day to 9am the previous day for operational reasons.

“From Monday, we will be bringing forward the publication time for our data dashboard and our daily statement from 2pm to the earlier time of 12pm.

“From Monday, we plan to extend the lag period for seven day case rate reporting from two to four days. This will further improve the accuracy of Coronavirus cases per 100,000 population by local authority area for the most recent seven-day incidence.

“The Welsh Government has announced that coronavirus regulations relating to self-isolation periods have changed in Wales.

“Under the revised regulations, people who have tested positive or have come in to close contact with someone who has had a positive test for coronavirus will be required by law to self-isolate for 10 days. Previously, close contacts were required to self-isolate for 14 days.

“This change has been made to reflect the latest evidence around transmission of the virus.

“These regulations will apply retrospectively, so anyone on days 11-14 of self-isolation will be immediately released. This applies to all settings, so will mean that school bubbles can return.

“This new 10-day requirement also applies to people who are isolating after travelling from a non-exempt country.”