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Wales Online
Wales Online
Health
Mark Smith

Fourteen more people with coronavirus die in Wales as the number of cases soars past 1,450

Fourteen more people have died after contracting coronavirus in Wales, which takes the overall total to 62.

Public Health Wales has also confirmed that 1,451 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 since the outbreak began - an increase of 210 from yesterday to 1,241.

But as testing is being prioritised for frontline NHS workers and patients in hospital, the true number of people with the disease is likely to be much higher.

Numbers of confirmed cases by local health board

Health Board New cases Cumulative cases
Aneurin Bevan 51 565
Betsi Cadwaladr 13 82
Cardiff and Vale 62 344
Cwm Taf 34 158
Hywel Dda 12 87
Powys 2 22
Swansea Bay 32 157
Resident outside Wales 2 12
To be confirmed 2 24
Wales Total 208 1439
Total 210 1451

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: "210 new cases have tested positive for novel coronavirus (Covid-19)in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,451, although the true number of cases is likely to be higher.

"14 further deaths have been reported to us of people who had tested positive for novel coronavirus (Covid-19), taking the number of deaths in Wales to 62.

“We offer our condolences to families and friends affected, and we ask those reporting on the situation to respect patient confidentiality.

“Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is now circulating in every part of Wales. The single most important action we can all take in fighting Coronavirus is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS, and save lives.

“We know that staying at home can be hard, and we want to thank each and every person across Wales for doing their bit to help slow the spread of the virus.”

First Minister Mark Drakeford at a press conference on March 30 (Welsh Government)

The latest figures have been released following a press conference from First Minister Mark Drakeford who gave the latest update on the situation in Wales.

He admitted that the current lockdown period is likely to last beyond the three weeks initially announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week.

He added: "We may need significant restrictions for longer than the original three weeks, and beyond that period there will be time when we don’t just go from everything being restricted to nothing being restricted.

"That’s going to be a long haul, a difficult haul for individuals and businesses."

Mr Drakeford also said he was "disappointed" that a deal with a company to provide further coronavirus testing in Wales had collapsed.

But he said that the Welsh Government would now look at its "wider consortium" of providers to ramp up this additional testing.

He added that 1,000 members of NHS staff in Wales had been tested for Covid-19 so far, with many being quickly released back to the frontline so they could continue looking after those most in need.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has seen by far the most cases of the virus in Wales, which Mr Drakeford put down to a number of different factors.

"Explaining it isn't straightforward, and there is some degree of randomness," he added.

"Part of the reason it maybe an issue in Gwent is because it had a very early case of a member of health board staff acquiring the virus, and therefore testing was carried out more vigorously, more widely and earlier than in other parts of Wales.

"There is also evidence that the virus is moving east to west across the UK."

On Monday Mr Drakeford unveiled a £1.1bn Welsh Government "fighting fund" to support the Welsh economy and ensure public services are equipped to deal with the pandemic.

He confirmed this money has been "re-prioritised" from other areas of their budget such as Brexit trade missions.

He also announced a new £500m Economic Resilience Fund which provides extra support for businesses and charities experiencing a sharp drop in trading.

It is aimed at businesses forced to go into "hibernation" by temporarily shutting, or those which need cash-flow support to adapt to a remote way of working.

Meanwhile, Wales’ Chief Medical Officer Dr Frank Atherton stressed on BBC Breakfast that there was enough personal protection equipment (PPE) to meet demand.

But he admitted there have been local distribution issues with the equipment.

It was also announced on Monday that the National Eisteddfod has been postponed until next year because of Covid-19 infection.

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