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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Thomas Deacon

Number of staff at Tesco store in Cardiff test positive for coronavirus

A number of staff members at a Tesco store in Cardiff have tested positive for coronavirus.

The supermarket giant confirmed on Thursday that workers at the Pengam Green Extra site have returned positive results for the virus.

It is not known how many staff at the Eastern Bay Road store have been affected.

It comes as 140 more cases of Covid-19 were reported in Cardiff on Thursday. The infection rate in the city currently stands at 470.4 per 100,000 population, down from 480.2 on Wednesday.

You can read more about the latest coronavirus figures for Cardiff, and the rest of Wales, here.

Find out the number of coronavirus cases where you live here:

A Tesco spokesman said: “A small number of colleagues at our Pengam Green Extra store have tested positive for Covid-19. Their close contacts have been informed.

"The safety of our colleagues, customers and suppliers remains our number one priority and we are working with local public health authorities, following all Welsh Government guidance and taking the relevant precautions.

"We have extensive measures across all of our stores to help keep everyone safe, including protective screens at every checkout, social distancing signage and regular cleaning.”

The rising number of cases across the city is putting severe pressure on hospitals and why patients in A&E at Cardiff's main hospital are having to wait up to 24 hours before being admitted onto a ward.

Katja Empson, a consultant in the emergency unit at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff, said unwell patients often find themselves "stuck" in the department before a bed is opened up for them elsewhere in the hospital.

Her warning came as two of Wales' leading doctors described the dire situation facing hospitals, warning that the NHS could be overwhelmed within weeks.

Chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton and NHS Wales chief executive Dr Andrew Goodall, speaking at the Welsh Government's press conference on Wednesday, said they were "very concerned" about the health service's ability to handle a further sustained rise in of coronavirus cases.

Without further action, they said there was a "material risk" of the NHS being overwhelmed over the next 21 days.

They confirmed that 16 Welsh hospitals were now reporting levels three or four - the two highest levels of pressure - with six hospitals at the highest level four.

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