The Welsh Government could take further measures after 13 cases of the South African coronavirus variant were identified in the country.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said that originally the travel history was uncertain for three of those cases but this had now fallen to two.

“We’re still investigating those cases, Public Health Wales are undertaking that work with the individuals and their contacts,” Mr Gething said.

“As we work through that, we’re looking to make sure those people get tested and supported to isolate and to do the right thing.

“When we do have a further update about those cases we’ll of course make sure that’s available, there’s lots of public interest in this I understand, but within the cases we’re reporting those 13 cases are a very small number.

“The dominant strain is still the highly contagious Kent variant and we’re making progress to drive down cases despite that being dominant across Wales.

“That doesn’t mean that we’re complacent about the South African variant, we are still watching and looking very carefully about what’s happening and we have further measures that we may need to take and if we do, we’ll be completely open about them.”

Mr Gething also told the Welsh Government press conference that he is “deeply sorry” after more than 5,000 coronavirus-related deaths were reported by Public Health Wales.

“I’m deeply sorry for every single life that’s been lost, every family who’s been affected,” Mr Gething said.

“Right from the outset of this pandemic, we made a point of recognising that these aren’t just numbers, these are people who are loved and valued and leave others behind.”

Mr Gething said the Welsh Government had taken “extraordinary measures” to reduce the number of people coming to harm from Covid-19.

“Despite all of that, we know that more than 5,000 people have lost their lives,” Mr Gething said.

“I’m afraid we can be terribly confident that without the measures that we’ve all taken together, more people would have come to harm and more families would be grieving the loss of a loved one.

“That’s why it’s so important that we all stick with what we’re doing to help drive down rates even further.”