THERE have been 47 new coronavirus cases recorded in Powys in the last 24 hours and one more death, according to Public Health Wales figures today.

This takes the total number of cases in the county to 2,574, though figures should be interpreted with caution say Public Health Wales, in light of backlogs and delays in testing patterns over the Christmas and New Year period – there was for example no figures released by PHW on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

The number of deaths from the virus in Powys has now risen from 35 to 36. However, that number is 140 according to more accurate Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, though this may also be due to a lag in reporting.

PHW reports new deaths daily but these are usually from previous days. It did not release data on Christmas Day or New Year's Day, which means there will be a backlog of data that will flow through to the system on the following days.

Deaths of Powys residents can also be skewed as many of the county’s patients deemed acute are transferred to hospitals in England. ONS figures are therefore usually 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.

Powys stats:

Confirmed cases – 2,574

New cases in January 3 data – 47

Rate of new cases per 100,000 in week to December 29 – 163.1

Powys position among Welsh local authorities for rate of new cases – 16th out of 22

Newly-confirmed cases day-by-day:

Monday, January 4 - 47

Sunday, January 3 – 99

Friday/Saturday, January 1/2 – 36

Thursday, December 31 – 17

Wednesday, December 30 – 44

Tuesday, December 29 – 29

The national picture:

Another 25 people have died after contracting coronavirus in Wales – which reported in recent days that the number of tests administered has now surpassed two million.

A total of 3,645 people in Wales have now died with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest figures from PHW.

The national public health agency in Wales also reported a further 1,898 new cases of the virus, bringing the total number of positive cases to 157,209.

Public Health Wales' statement:

Dr Giri Shankar, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said:"With vaccinations for COVID-19 progressing, we welcome the announcement by the Welsh Government of the roll-out of the second Coronavirus vaccine (from Oxford/AstraZeneca) in Wales, which starts this week.

“The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued a short statement outlining the case for optimising the vaccine programme within the UK to achieve maximum short term impact.

“Vaccinating the adult population of Wales, to protect people from severe disease, is a significant task, and the vaccine will take time to reach everyone. The epidemiology of COVID-19 throughout the UK in late 2020 showed a clear need for rapid, high levels of vaccine uptake among vulnerable persons.

“The JCVI supports a two-dose vaccine schedule for the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines. Given the data available, and evidence from the use of many other vaccines, Public Health Wales fully supports the JCVI advice to increase a maximum interval between the first and second doses of 12 weeks for both vaccines.

“It can be assumed that protection from the first dose will wane in the medium term, and the second dose will still be required to provide more durable protection. The JCVI advises initially prioritising delivery of the first vaccine dose as this is highly likely to have a greater public health impact in the short term and reduce the number of preventable deaths from COVID-19.

“Members of the public should not to phone your GP, pharmacy or hospital asking when they will get a vaccine. When someone is in one of the groups eligible for the vaccine, they will be invited to attend a dedicated clinic which will have been set up to ensure patient safety and that of the healthcare professionals.

“The effects of the vaccines may not be seen nationally for some time, and with Wales at alert level four we must continue to follow the advice on keeping Wales safe. Stay at home, meet only the people you live with, maintain social distancing, wash your hands regularly, and work from home if you can."