Public Health Wales has confirmed a further four cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Wales, bringing the total number of cases to 13.
Dr Meng Khaw, national director for health protection and screenings, said two of the new cases were in the Cardiff and Vale health board area, one of the cases was in the Swansea Bay health board area, and the other case was in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area.
A statement on Friday said: “Public Health Wales is today (Friday 10 December) confirming two new cases of Omicron variant in the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board area, one new case in the Swansea Bay University Health Board area and one new case in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area. This brings us to a total of thirteen cases in Wales, of which four are linked to international travel.
“As we have said previously, an increase in cases of Omicron variant in Wales is to be expected.”
On Friday First Minister Mark Drakeford announced that reviews on restrictions in Wales would be moving from every three weeks to weekly. You can see our live coverage here.
He announced that Wales will will remain at alert level zero - meaning all businesses can remain open and there are no restrictions on meeting people. You can read more about the small changes here.
It means the next review will be on Friday, December 17.
He said: "As we have reviewed the coronavirus regulations this week, the Cabinet has carefully considered what protections we need to keep Wales safe from the current delta wave which is still with us now and how we protect people from the omicron wave, which we know is coming.
"This is a very difficult balance. We may be about a week behind what’s happening in other parts of England and Scotland, giving us a bit more time to learn and act.
"Because of the speed at which things may change, the Cabinet will move from a three week cycle of decision making to a one-week cycle.
"We’ll be monitoring the public health situation very closely to consider whether we need to put additional protections in place to keep Wales safe."
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