A further eight people have died with coronavirus in Wales according to latest figures published by Public Health Wales.
New data released on Thursday February 24, and covering a 24-hour period to 9am on Wednesday, February 23, shows 1,059 new positive cases, bringing the total to 811,844.
The overall number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive in Wales has now risen to 6,969.
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The latest infection rate based on PCR tests for the seven days up to February 19 now stands at 210.7 cases for every 100,000 people – up from the 208.8 cases recorded on Tuesday.
The infection rate based on PCR tests is only a guide to the spread of Covid in Wales as it does not include lateral flow test results, which are reported weekly in Wales. People with no symptoms who test positive on an LFT no longer need a confirmatory PCR test.
The latest data on lateral flow tests, published today for seven days to February 20 show there have been a further 11,350 positive test results reported. That's down from 13,700 the previous week. Positivity was 8.23% . The highest incidence rate was in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area with 431.3 positive tests for every 100,000 people.
The area of Wales with the highest infection rate for the seven days up to February 18 was Cardiff with 274.7 followed by Ceredigion with 269.6 Carmarthenshire with 259.6.
Cardiff recorded the most positive cases over the latest 24-hour period with 149 followed by Swansea with 100, Carmarthenshire with 72, Caerphilly with 63, Conwy with 54 and Pembrokeshire with 53.
Meanwhile Neath Port Talbot and Wrexham had 50 new cases, Flintshire had 49, the Vale of Glamorgan had 43, Newport had 39, RCT had 38, and Bridgend and Powys had 37.
Gwynedd had 36, Monmouthshire had 30, Torfaen had 29, Blaenau Gwent, Denbighshire and Ceredigion all had 26 each, Anglesey and Conwy had 24 each and Merthyr Tydfil had 8.
In the seven days to February 18 a total of 21.7% of PCR tests across Wales gave a positive result, a fall on the 23.8% reported on Wednesday. The highest positivity rates were in Swansea (28.2%) Cardiff (27.8%) and Anglesey (27.2%).
As of February 23 there were 9 patients in ventilated intensive care beds with confirmed Covid-19. This is well below the Omicron wave peak of 39 on January 5.
New figures are also being published showing the number of people being specifically treated for Covid rather than testing positive for the virus but being in hospital for other reasons. As of February 23 out of 361 patients in acute hospitals with Covid there were only 85 people actively being treated for Covid in Wales (25%).
A total of 2,519,201 people have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,383,405 have been given two doses. Meanwhile 1,869,063 people have been given their booster jabs in Wales.
Infection rate for every 100,000 people in each area for the seven days up to February 19:
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Blaenau Gwent: 213.3 (down from 227.6)
Newport: 179.9 (up from 175.2)
Caerphilly: 172.9 (up from 169)
Torfaen: 194.8 (up from 191.6)
Monmouthshire: 213.6 (down from 225.2)
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Conwy: 211.6 (up from 207.3)
Anglesey: 168.5 (up from 151.3)
Gwynedd: 175.8 (down from 180.6)
Denbighshire: 193.3 (up from 188.1)
Flintshire: 205.0 (down from 207.6)
Wrexham: 179.5 (down from 190.5)
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Cardiff: 274.7 (up from 269)
Vale of Glamorgan: 234.4 (down from 236.5)
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Merthyr Tydfil: 202.2 (up from 200.6)
Rhondda Cynon Taf: 196.5 (up from 189.8)
Bridgend: 173.4 (up from 166.6)
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Carmarthenshire: 259.6 (up from 251.1)
Pembrokeshire: 192.3 (down from 194.7)
Ceredigion: 269.6 (up from 264.1)
Powys Teaching Health Board
Powys: 186.5 (down from 191)
Swansea Bay University Health Board
Neath Port Talbot: 207.2 (up from 201.7)
Swansea: 202.8 (up from 200.4)
Wales total: 210.7 (up from 208.8 )
The headlines from the latest ONS infection survey published at 2pm on Wednesday, February 23, suggest the percentage of people testing positive for Covid in Wales decreased during the week ending February 19. It means cases in Wales have fallen for the second week in a row and Wales has the lowest incidence of Covid out of all the UK home nations.
It estimated 98,200 people in Wales, equivalent to one in 30, had Covid in the week ending February 19. In England it was one in 25 people. In Scotland one in 20 people had Covid in the same week, while in Northern Ireland it was around one in 14.
The legal requirement to show a Covid pass to enter certain venues and events has now been lifted in Wales and from Monday, February 28, face coverings will no longer need to be worn in all indoor public places. Schools will be able to set their own rules from the same date. You can read the full list of changes here.
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