LATEST Public Health Wales (PHW) figures show that 17 people have tested positive for coronavirus bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Powys to 2,810 since the outbreak began.

There has been one more death with the virus in the county, taking the death toll according to PHW to 37.

That number remains at 147 according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

Across Wales, there were 1,660 new Covid-19 cases according to PHW on Saturday.

Dr Robin Howe, incident director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales (PHW), said: “The number of positive Coronavirus cases remains extremely high in Wales and is cause for serious concern.

“In the light of this, on Friday the First Minister confirmed Wales’ lockdown will continue for a further three weeks, until January 29.

“The Education Minister has announced that all schools and colleges will continue with online learning until at least January 29, and will remain that way until the February half term unless there is a significant reduction in transmission.

“In addition, Welsh Government have confirmed that non-essential retail, hospitality venues, licensed premises and leisure facilities will remain closed.

“Measures in shops and workplaces which remain open will be strengthened, including closing all showrooms, although they will still be able to operate click and collect services.

“The roll-out of the Pfizer BioNTech and AstraZeneca Coronavirus vaccines continues in Wales with the recently Medicines and Healthcare productes Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved Moderna vaccine to be incorporated into the programme soon.

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

“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.”