Wales now has more than 600 identified cases of the Omicron variant, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales.
On Tuesday the NHS trust confirmed that 204 more cases had been found to take the total to 640.
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board now has nearly 150 cases, the most of any health board, followed by Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB and Swansea Bay UHB.
Read more: The big questions over Wales' strategy to tackle Omicron
Here is the breakdown of Omicron cases by health board area:
Health Board |
Total cases |
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board |
148 (+46) |
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board |
86 (+19) |
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board |
129 (+43) |
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board |
83 (+25) |
Swansea Bay University Health Board |
139 (+55) |
Hywel Dda University Health Board |
31 (+9) |
Powys Teaching Health Board |
23 (+7) |
Total |
640 (+204) |
Dr Meng Khaw, national director for health protection and screening services for Public Health Wales, said: "Public Health Wales is today (Tuesday 21 December) confirming 204 new cases of Omicron variant in Wales, bringing us to a total of 640 cases.
"As we have indicated previously, a rapid increase over the coming days and weeks is expected.”
Based on the latest PHW data, Omicron is spreading fastest in Swansea Bay health board area, with a 65% jump in the number of Omicron cases in the last 24 hours.
The seven-day infection rate is rising quickly, having jumped sharply over the weekend and reaching 575 cases per 100,000 population on Tuesday. You can read the full bulletin here.
Welsh Government ministers are reportedly meeting today (Tuesday) to discuss whether further Covid restrictions are needed to curb the spread of the virus.
On Friday, it was confirmed that new restrictions would be brought in from Monday, December 27. From then on nightclubs across the country will have to close, while extra safety measures will be put in place across other industries. A two-metre social distancing rule will be brought into effect in offices and one-way systems and physical barriers will return.
And at midnight on Monday, the Welsh Government announced that crowds have been banned from sports fixtures at all levels from the same date.
The First Minister has so far refused to rule out bringing in further restrictions for the hospitality industry. WalesOnline understands there will be a Welsh Government press conference at 12:15pm tomorrow regarding the current Covid situation in Wales. Follow live updates here.
NHS Wales is giving more than 35,000 booster jabs a day after ramping up the vaccination programme in response to the spread of the Omicron variant. Full details can be found here.
In Wales, just over half (53.5%) of all people aged 18 and over have now received their third jab- slightly behind England (54.8%) and some way off Scotland (57.7%). The aim is for all eligible adults to be offered a booster dose of the Covid vaccine dose by the end of December.
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