LATEST figures show that 22 new people have tested positive for coronavirus in Powys over the last 24 hours.

Public Health Wales (PHW) statistics show that the total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began now stands at 3,604.

PHW figures for Welsh deaths stands at 51, although that number is 189, according to more reliable 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, with the rate of new cases per 100,000 people in Powys now down to 84.6.

Monday’s latest comes as Powys Teaching Health Board announced that a quarter of the county’s population has so far been vaccinated against Covid-19.

PTHB revealed via it’s daily update that more than 33,000 Powys residents have already been vaccinated through the health board’s Covid-19 vaccination programme. With a 2019 census putting the county’s population at 132,093, that’s just shy of 25 per cent of people in Powys.

The health board’s priority remains vaccinating people in the Priority Groups 1-4 by mid-February.

Powys stats:

Confirmed cases – 3,604

New cases in February 8 data – 22

Rate of new cases per 100,000 in week to February 3 – 84.6

Powys position among Welsh local authorities for rate of new cases – 12th out of 22

Newly-confirmed cases day-by-day:

Monday, February 8 – 22

Sunday, February 7 – 27

Saturday, February 6 – 17

Friday, February 5 – 12

Thursday, February 4 – 24

Wednesday, February 3 – f9

Tuesday, February 2 – 16

Monday, February 1 – 18

The national picture:

Twelve more people have died due to coronavirus in Wales over the last day – taking deaths according to PHW over 5,000 nationwide, to 5,001.

However, these are only deaths registered in a hospital or care setting, and the number who have died with Covid-related deaths at home passed 5,000 a month ago and is closer to 6,500.

ONS figures include all deaths registered, when the virus is suspected or confirmed – and in all settings from hospitals to people's homes. Their death toll for Wales stands at 6,473 since the virus took hold of Wales.

It is estimated that for 90 per cent of these deaths in Wales, Covid is the underlying cause, not just a contributory factor. The figure up to January 22 was 6,473, with updated figures due out on Tuesday.

Of the deaths reported to Public Health Wales on Monday, four more were in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area in north Wales, three were in Hywel Dda in west Wales, two each were in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Aneurin Bevan in south Wales and one was in Swansea Bay.

There were also 610 new Covid infections reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 196,670.

More than 600,000 people have now received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in Wales – around 15 per cent of the population, with 603,976 people now having had the jab.

Of those, 2,792 have had a second dose.

The case rate in Wales has fallen to 116 per 100,000 people, the lowest it has been for four months.

Flintshire has overtaken its neighbouring county Wrexham as the area with the highest case rate with 231.9 per 100,000 people. Wrexham's rate now stands at 229.5.

Public Health Wales' statement:

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Today we reached a sobering milestone. There have now been 5,000 deaths of people with coronavirus in Wales reported to Public Health Wales.

“That’s one life lost every 90 minutes since March last year. 5,000 families grieving. We offer our sincere condolences to everyone who has lost someone.

“Media reports regarding the effectiveness of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine against the South African variant of concern relate to preliminary data from a study involving a small group of people which is not yet peer-reviewed.

“In trials this vaccine has demonstrated high levels of protection against Covid-related hospitalisation and death from 28 days after vaccination, and protection was reported to be consistent across trial sites, including in South Africa where almost all infections are due to this variant.

“We encourage everyone, whatever their background, socio-demographic and ethnicity, to have the coronavirus vaccine when they are offered it. We also stress the importance of seeking information from a trusted source such as Public Health Wales, the Welsh Government, local health board or GP.

“Although the data currently shows that on an all-Wales level the numbers of cases are reducing and that the incidence is now below 120 cases per 100,000 population, the rates in some areas – particularly in North Wales – are still at nearly double that.

“The pressure on our hospitals is still severe, so it is extremely important that everyone sticks to the rules and stays at home as much as possible.”