Infection rate drops in Wales as death toll rises by five

ANOTHER five people in Wales have died with coronavirus, it has been revealed, as the seven-day infection rate finally dropped from a record high.

New figures from Public Health Wales (PHW) published yesterday covering the past 24-hour period show the total number of Covid-related deaths in Wales is now 6,122.

There were also 2,582 new positive cases recorded in today’s update, bringing the total number since the pandemic began to 429,731.

The latest seven-day infection rate across Wales based on the cases for every 100,000 people (for the seven days up to October 22) now stands at 699.7 – a welcome fall from the 719.9 reported on Tuesday.

The local authority with the highest infection rate in Wales is still Blaenau Gwent, with 1,156.6 cases per 100,000 people, followed by Torfaen with 1,024.9 and Caerphilly with 976.4.

The test positivity rate across Wales is at 23.4%, meaning nearly a quarter of all those getting tests are coming back positive. Nearly three in 10 people in Bridgend are having their test come back positive (28.4%) – the highest of any local authority.

The areas of the country recording the highest numbers of Covid cases in the latest 24-hour period were Cardiff with 406, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 226, Swansea with 196, Vale of Glamorgan with 170, Caerphilly with 164, Newport with 139, Neath Port Talbot with 117, Bridgend with 114, Carmarthenshire with 103 and Pembrokeshire with 100.

The local authorities with the lowest numbers of cases included Conwy and Anglesey with 36 apiece and Ceredigion with 18.

As of October 25 there were 703 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus (confirmed, suspected, and recovering) – a rise on the 677 reported the day before – and 56 people in invasive ventilated beds in Wales with coronavirus.

On Friday, PHW figures showed that 2,435,396 people have had one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,241,637 have had both doses.

Also, to date, 375,765 people in Wales have had a vaccine booster jab – including more than half of care home residents (65.9%), healthcare workers (63.8%), care home workers (52.6%) and those over 80 years old (53.7%).

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is now being administered to 12- to 15-year-olds in mass vaccination centres and some schools.