No part of Wales has been left unscathed by coronavirus and lockdown but some parts of the nation have seen far fewer people die and far fewer cases of the virus than others.
WalesOnline has gone through the latest Public Heath Wales data to find the areas which have had fewer incidences of Covid-19 that any other.
We've used the data published on Saturday, April 3. It provides the figures for areas with an average of 7,000 people, called Middle Super Output Areas. In practice this means there are statistics for areas like Canton in Cardiff, Morriston in Swansea and Porth in Rhondda.
There are only four areas of Wales which have had fewer than 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
These were:
- Tywyn & Llangelynnin, Gwynedd - 86
- Harlech & Llanbedr, Gwynedd - 90
- Abermule, Churchstoke & Kerry, Powys - 90
- Abersoch & Aberdaron, Gwynedd - 95
There were only two areas in the whole of Wales that had no Covid deaths since the start of the pandemic according to the Office for National Statistics.
There were:
- Llandudno Junction South & Llasanffraid Glan Conwy in Conwy
- Rhyl South West in Denbighshire
There were two places which saw just a single fatality and these were Bangor City in Gwenedd and Borth & Bont-goch in Ceredigion.
In the Welsh capital, Cardiff Bay had the lowest number of fatalities with two.
The areas that had the lowest amount of cases per 100,000 since the start of the pandemic were from just three counties.
They were:
- Tywyn & Llangelynnin, Gwynedd - 1,154.80
- Harlech & Llanbedr, Gwynedd - 1,514.10
- Abermule, Churchstoke & Kerry, Powys - 1,597.40
- Abersoch & Aberdaron, Gwynedd - 1,616.70
- Pen-y-groes, Tal-y-sarn & Dyffryn Nantlle, Gwynedd - 1,709.20
- Blaenau Ffestiniog & Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd - 1,725.50
- New Quay & Penbryn, Ceredigion - 1,734.40
- Borth & Bont-goch, Ceredigion - 1,760.80
- Bala & Mawddwy, Gwynedd - 1,765.50
- Knighton & Presteigne, Powys - 1,905.70
Clearly the more rural and isolated an area, the harder it is for coronavirus to run through a community. Cities and areas with high deprivation were far more likely to have higher Covid rates.
These are the areas of every Welsh local authority with the fewest coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. Bear in mind that this data can be skewed through things like having a care home located in a particular area.
Blaenau Gwent
Abertillery South & Llanhilleth - 6,604.00
Bridgend
Brackla West -6,758.40
Caerphilly
Machen - 5,831.80
Cardiff
Rhiwbina Village - 4,624.70
Carmarthenshire
Tre-lech, Cenarth & Llangeler - 3,614.90
Ceredigion
New Quay & Penbryn - 1,734.40
Conwy
Conwy & Afon Roe - 2,480.00
Denbighshire
Ruthin - 3,518.10
Flintshire
Caerwys, Halkyn & Nannerch - 4,092.70
Gwynedd
Tywyn & Llangelynnin - 1,154.80
Merthyr Tydfil
Treharris & Trelewis - 8,596.60
Monmouthshire
Rhaglan & Llantilio Crossenny - 3,171.60
Neath Port Talbot
Ystalyfera & Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen - 6,224.90
Newport
Ridgeway & Glasllwch - 5,802.80
Pembrokeshire
St Davids & Letterston - 2,065.20
Powys
Abermule, Churchstoke & Kerry - 1,597.40
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Taff's Well & Nantgarw - 6,798.80
Swansea
West Gower - 5,029.20
The Vale of Glamorgan
Llantwit Major - 4,063.00
Torfaen
Fairwater & Greenmeadow - 5,641.40
Wrexham
Bangor-on-Dee, Overton & Penley - 3,836.30
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Why have some places had so much more Covid?
There is a long list of reasons why Covid may be higher in some areas than others.
One of the key drivers in poverty. This because those on low incomes are:
- More likely to be key workers so have to interact with more people.
- More likely to relay on family for childcare which can in turn spread the virus.
- More likely to have underlying health conditions.
- More likely to live in smaller housing which makes self isolating almost impossible.
- Less likely to own a car and therefore rely on public transport which exposes them to more lines of transmission.
- More likely to have a zero hours contract meaning that if they isolate they will have no income as they can not work.
