Grim Covid milestone for Wales as mid January week saw highest death toll
467 people died with the virus in Wales in one week
The number of people dying from Covid-19 in Wales has reached its highest weekly total since the start of the pandemic.
In the week ending 15 January, there were 467 deaths, that's up 13 on the week before.
The Office for National Statistics says this was nearly 40% of all registered deaths.
However, today's figures from Public Health Wales show a slightly lower number of deaths with Coronavirus compared to recent days - but still 8 people have been reported as having died with the virus today.
It means that across Wales there have been 4561 suspected deaths with Coronavirus, with a total number of cases at 189,152
Betsi Cadwaladr and Cwm Taf Morgannwg health boards saw their highest weekly numbers .. and they were more than experienced during the first wave.
Rising deaths in West Wales
And Wales is also now seeing higher numbers of deaths in north Wales and west Wales.
There have been 37 new cases of coronavirus recorded across Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in today’s (Tuesday, January 26) Public Health Wales figures.
The latest figures show 24 new cases in Carmarthenshire, seven new cases in Pembrokeshire and six in Ceredigion.
One more death was recoded in the Hywel Dda area, with a total of 341 throughout the pandemic.
The total number of cases across the three counties now totals 14,176 – 9,611 in Carmarthenshire, 2,960 in Pembrokeshire and 1,605 in Ceredigion.
Monitoring the variant
Dr Giri Shankar, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said:
“Public Health Wales is working with Public Health England and other UK partners to monitor the impact and spread of the UK variant, and to detect and monitor other virus variants. As reported last week, there is evidence which suggests that the UK variant of concern may lead to a higher risk of death than the non-variant.
“We continue to investigate and respond to the spread of the variant and its impact in Wales. Evidence is still emerging and more work is underway to fully understand how it behaves.
“It is important to remember that all current variants of COVID-19 are still spreading and can cause severe illness and death. Therefore it is important to stay at home, and to reduce opportunities for spread by keeping your distance, washing hands regularly, and covering your face.
“All of Wales remains in lockdown. We ask that the public adopts the same mindset for this lockdown as they did in March 2020. We understand that people are fatigued but because the new, more infectious variant of coronavirus is circulating across Wales it is vital that we all keep to the lockdown restrictions and do not meet other people.
“This means that you must stay at home. If exercising outdoors, please do this alone or with members of your household or support bubble only. Shop online, but if you do need to visit essential retail then do this alone, if possible, to minimise numbers of people in retail spaces, and avoid stopping to chat with people outside your household. If you must leave home keep your distance, wash your hands regularly, and wear a face mask when required according to the regulations.
“Public Health Wales urges everyone to follow the rules, to avoid transmission of Coronavirus and to protect everyone in our communities, including the most vulnerable.
“UK nationals returning home from travel abroad must provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test result taken up to 3 days before departure.
“Under current UK COVID-19 restrictions, you must stay at home. You must not leave home or travel, including internationally, unless you have a legally permitted reason to do so.
“If you are due to travel out of the UK, please be aware of the changing situation and keep an eye on the FCO website for up to date details."