Newport has recorded 21 new cases of coronavirus as a further 10 people have died with the virus across Wales, according to the latest figures from Public Health Wales.
The NHS trust confirmed on Tuesday, February 9, that 351 more positive cases have been reported in Wales the last 24 hours. It is the fewest cases reported in a 24-hour period since September 28 and it brings the total since the pandemic began to 197,021.
The number of people who have now died with Covid-19 in Wales within a month of receiving a positive test result has now reached 5,011.
In Newport the infection rate is now 108 per 100,000 population in the seven days up to February 4, a decrease from 115.1 on Monday.
The Wales infection rate is now 114.3 per 100,000 population for the seven days up to February 4, a decrease from 116.4 on Monday. It has not been this low since early October. However the infection rate is no longer falling as fast as it was for most of January.
PHW data shows 628,760 people have now received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of 10pm on Monday, up 24,784 on the figure published 24 hours earlier. Some 3,491 people have now received both of their vaccine jabs.
Uptake of the first dose by priority group (according to PHW)
- 80 years and older: 157,407 received first dose (86.1%)
- Aged 75-79 years: 106,305 (79%)
- Aged 70-74 years: 111,676 (60.5%)
- Care home residents: 13,740 received first dose (77.7%)
- Care home workers: 32,848 received first dose (82.1%)
- Healthcare workers: 112,763 received first dose (percentage not given)
Key details
Deaths reported today: 10
Cases reported today: 351 (down from 610)
Number of tests carried out: 6,446 (down from 11,013)
Total deaths with lab-confirmed coronavirus in Wales: 5,011
Total number of people who have received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine: 628,760
Total number of people who have received a two-dose course of Covid-19 vaccine: 3,491
Wrexham is once again the local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales with a seven-day rate of 235.4 cases per 100,000 population, up from 229.5 on Monday.
Flintshire is now back in second with a seven-day rate of 221 cases per 100,000 population, which is down from 231.9 on the day before.
Anglesey remains the third highest rate with 178.5 cases per 100,000, an increase from 177 the day before.
Cardiff reported the most new cases in the latest 24-hour period with 37, followed by Wrexham with 34, Flintshire with 27, Swansea with 25 and Newport and Powys both with 21.
All other local authorities reported less than 20 cases including Conwy and Gwynedd with 17, RCT and Carmarthenshire with 16, Caerphilly with 14, Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend with 13, and Vale of Glamorgan, Neath Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire all with 11.
Six locations recorded single-digit rises in new cases in the latest daily figures with Denbighshire and Merthyr Tydfil having seven, Monmouthshire and Torfaen having five, Ceredigion having three and Anglesey having just one.
The rules you have to adhere to over coronavirus:
Across Wales, the positivity rate of tests is down to 9.5% for the past seven-day period, which is below a key Welsh Government threshold for easing lockdown restrictions. The highest rate is in Wrexham where 15.2% of tests have come back positive in the last week.
Cases per 100,000 based on seven-day rolling average (January 29 to February 4)
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Newport: 108 (Down from 115.1)
Torfaen: 140.5 (Down from 142.6)
Caerphilly: 117.1 (Down from 127.6)
Monmouthshire: 77.2 (Down from 79.3)
Blaenau Gwent: 90.2 (Down from 94.5)
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Wrexham: 235.4 (Up from 229.5)
Flintshire: 221 (Down from 231.9)
Denbighshire: 97.2 (Up from 96.1)
Gwynedd: 81.1 (Up from 77.9)
Conwy: 116 (Up from 110.9)
Anglesey: 178.5 (Up from 177)
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Vale of Glamorgan: 119.8 (Down from 127.3)
Cardiff: 99.8 (Up from 98.9)
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Bridgend: 83.6 (Down from 89.8)
Merthyr Tydfil: 116 (Up from 106.1)
Rhondda Cynon Taf: 112.3 (Down from 114)
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Carmarthenshire: 137.2 (Down from 139.9)
Ceredigion: 59.2 (Up from 56.4)
Pembrokeshire: 65.2 (Down from 69.9)
Powys Teaching Health Board
Powys: 87.6 (Up from 84.6)
Swansea Bay University Health Board
Neath Port Talbot: 89.3 (Down from 94.2)
Swansea: 70.4 (Up from 70)
Wales total - 114.3 (Down from 116.4)
Speaking during Monday's press conference, Health Minister Vaughan Gething praised the "phenomenal effort" being put in to vaccinate the Welsh population.
"Every vaccine given is a small victory against the virus," he said.
However, he said the Welsh Government was closely monitoring vaccine uptake to make sure there were no barriers to take-up.
"I want to be clear to all, the vaccine contains no pork products or traces of foetal matter and it is safe for all ethnic minority and faith communities," he said.
"Having the vaccine will help boost immunity to this awful virus and will help us limit the spread within all our communities.
"We are also considering whether we need to make it easier for people to access the vaccine by using mosques and other places of worship as clinics, especially in predominantly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, which we know have been so hard hit by coronavirus."
Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said on Tuesday: "Media reports regarding the effectiveness of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine against the South African variant of concern relate to prelimary 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.
"We continue to work to identify and investigate cases of variant coronavirus in Wales. To date, 13 cases of the South Africa variant have been identified in Wales. Multi-agency investigations continue into two separate cases that do not have clear links to international travel. There are no cases of the variants associated with Brazil."
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