THERE have been 16 new positive cases of coronavirus recorded in Powys over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the county to nearly 3,500.

Latest Public Health Wales (PHW) stats show the overall figure to be 3,493.

PHW figures for Welsh deaths remain at 50, although that number is 173, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

Deaths of Powys residents can be skewed because 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.

The overall rate of cases in Powys and Wales continues to fall, although the rate of new cases per 100,000 people in Powys down to just above 100.

Powys stats:

Confirmed cases – 3,493

New cases in February 2 data – 16

Rate of new cases per 100,000 in week to January 28 – 104.2

Powys position among Welsh local authorities for rate of new cases – 15th out of 22

Newly-confirmed cases day-by-day:

Tuesday, February 2 – 16

Monday, February 1 – 18

Sunday, January 31 – 13

Saturday, January 30 – 32

Friday, January 29 – 22

Thursday, January 28 – 18

Wednesday, January 27 - 6

Tuesday, January 26 – 24

The national picture:

There have been seven more deaths in Wales due to the virus, with latest PHW figures showing a total of 4,782 people have died.

Although the rate continues to fall across the country, it has been the worst week for number of deaths in Wales, with Covid-19 involved in 41.5 per cent of all deaths in in the latest week – the highest proportion in the pandemic.

It was also by far the worst week for deaths in north Wales, with three quarters of the region's 102 deaths in Wrexham and Flintshire, Covid-19 hotspots in recent weeks.

There were 447 deaths involving Covid-19 across Wales for the week ending January 22. This is 20 fewer than last week, which was the highest recorded during any week of the pandemic.

It was still the third highest total registered during the pandemic but the first time the weekly total has fallen since December 4.

Meanwhile, health minister Vaughan Gething claims more lives could have been saved had Wales gone into lockdown earlier at the start of the pandemic.

Wales went into its first lockdown on March 23 and the Welsh Government came under fire early on for the speed of care home testing, as well as contact tracing.

Mr Gething said that, with hindsight, things might have been done differently, but stated that decisions were correct based on the information available at the time.

“Looking back, if we had the opportunity to do this all again, we would have made different choices on borders, definitely,” Mr Gething said.

“We would almost certainly have entered lockdown a week or two earlier, and we would have probably saved more lives if we had done that.

“I think that actually on the really big and serious choices we have learned lots.

“So if we have the knowledge we have now I would definitely have made different choices at various points in the pandemic.”

Public Health Wales' statement:

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Although the data currently shows that on an all-Wales level the numbers of cases are reducing and that the incidence is now below 150 cases per 100,000 population, the rates in some areas, particularly in North Wales, are still at more than double that.

“The pressure on our hospitals is still severe and shows no signs of easing yet, so it is extremely important that everyone sticks to the rules and stays at home as much as possible.

“The vaccination programme, run by the Welsh Government and the local health boards, is continuing at pace, with more than 400,000 people in the first four priority groups having now received their first vaccination.

“This is a crucial time. We must ensure that we stick to the rules over the next few weeks so that the number of cases continues to reduce and that hospitals can start to recover, while the vaccination programme is underway to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.”