Coronavirus in Powys round-up – Tuesday, February 9

Public Health Wales (PHW) statistics show that the total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began is now 3,625.

Today’s figures see Powys leap to joint fifth out of Wales’ 22 local authorities for most cases – along with Newport – but this is more of an indication that case rates around the rest of the country are dropping substantially. Flintshire (27) and Wrexham (34), where cases have spiked in recent weeks, have recorded more cases today, as have Cardiff (37) and Swansea (25). The PHW figures released today are the lowest nationwide in a long while.

PHW figures for Powys deaths remains at 51, with that number much higher, at 189, according to more reliable Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

Deaths of Powys residents though 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 87.6 – the fifth lowest in Wales – although that is slightly higher than yesterday.

Powys stats:

Confirmed cases – 3,625

New cases in February 9 data – 21

Rate of new cases per 100,000 in week to February 4 – 87.6

Powys position among Welsh local authorities for rate of new cases – Joint 5th out of 22

Newly-confirmed cases day-by-day:

Tuesday, February 9 – 21

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

The national picture:

Ten more people have died due to the virus in Wales over the last day, with Welsh deaths surpassing 5,000 on Monday.

PHW say the death toll is now 5,011. There were 361 deaths involving Covid-19 in Wales in the latest weekly figures from the ONS, which is 86 fewer than last week and the second successive fall, but Covid still accounts for 37.1 per cent of all deaths.

It takes the total number of deaths, as measured by the ONS, in the pandemic in Wales to 6,843.

Betsi Cadwaladr – with 73 deaths – experienced its second worst week of the pandemic.

They included 42 deaths in north Wales hospitals and 29 in care homes, in the week ending January 29.

Nearly two thirds of these were in north-east Wales, which has been the hotpot for Covid in Wales in recent weeks. There were 13 deaths in hospital involving Flintshire residents and 12 in Wrexham, which also had 12 deaths involving care home residents.

Data also showed 351 more people had tested positive for Covid-19 in Wales since yesterday, taking the total to 197,021.

PHW said 628,760 people have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine and of those, 3,491 have had a second dose.

Of the new deaths, three were reported by Betsi Cadwaladr, two for Hywel Dda, two in both Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Aneurin Bevan and one death in Swansea Bay.

The local authority area with the highest case rate is Wrexham, where 235 people for every 100,000 of the population has tested positive for the virus in the past seven days.

It is followed by Flintshire at 221 and Anglesey at 178.5. The area with the lowest case rate is Ceredigion with 59.2, followed by Pembrokeshire with 65 and Monmouthshire with 77.2.

Public Health Wales' statement:

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “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.”