Ten more people have died with coronavirus in Wales according to latest figures published by Public Health Wales.
New data released on Tuesday, March 1, and covering a 72-hour period up to 9am on Monday, February 28, shows 2,225 new positive cases, bringing the total to 815,263.
The overall number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive in Wales has now risen to 6,993.
Read more: 'My sister died after a sudden asthma attack when she was just 19 years old'
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests for the seven days up to February 24 now stands at 158.8 cases for every 100,000 people – a significant reduction from the 191.7 cases recorded on Monday. It's the first time the infection rate has been this low since July 2021. All local authorities now have a seven-day infection rate below 200 cases per 100,000 population.
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 on Thursday for the week 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 also increased slightly from 8.07% to 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 21 was Cardiff with 199 followed by Vale of Glamorgan with 196.1 and Carmarthenshire with 194.9.
Cardiff recorded the most positive cases over the latest 72-hour period with 306, followed by Swansea with 161, Carmarthenshire with 153, RCT with 146, Vale of Glamorgan with 133, Flintshire with 116 and Newport and Conwy both with 100.
Meanwhile Caerphilly had 97 new cases, Neath Port Talbot had 91, Pembrokeshire with 81, Wrexham had 76, Powys had 74, Gwynedd had 73, Monmouthshire had 68, and Denbighshire had 62.
The areas with the lowest new cases reported were Bridgend and Ceredigion with 56 each, Torfaen with 52, Blaenau Gwent with 51, Anglesey with 50, and Merthyr Tydfil with 28.
In the seven days to February 24 a total of 21.5% of PCR tests across Wales gave a positive result, a fall on the 23.1% reported on Monday. The highest positivity rates were in Cardiff (26.4%), Vale of Glamorgan (26.1%) and Flintshire (25.3%).
As of February 28 there were 11 patients in ventilated intensive care beds with confirmed Covid-19. This is well below the Omicron wave peak of 39 on January 5. Seven of the 11 patients are being treated in Cardiff and Vale UHB.
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 28 out of 363 patients in acute hospitals with Covid there were only 77 people actively being treated for Covid in Wales (24%).
A total of 2,520,766 people have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,386,176 have been given two doses. Meanwhile 1,902,980 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 24:
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Blaenau Gwent: 187.5 (down from 203.3)
Newport: 130.6 (down from 159)
Caerphilly: 127 (down from 155.2)
Torfaen: 152.2 (down from 168.2)
Monmouthshire: 179.7 (down from 204)
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Conwy: 188.6 (up from 183.4)
Anglesey: 115.6 (down from 139.9)
Gwynedd: 110 (down from 144.5)
Denbighshire: 166.2 (down from 174.5)
Flintshire: 164.6 (down from 202.4)
Wrexham: 153 (down from 161.1)
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Cardiff: 199 (down from 258.7)
Vale of Glamorgan: 196.1 (down from 230.6)
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Merthyr Tydfil: 119.4 (down from 177.4)
Rhondda Cynon Taf: 125.6 (down from 174.1)
Bridgend: 140.1 (down from 176.8)
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Carmarthenshire: 194.9 (down from 240)
Pembrokeshire: 158.2 (down from 183.6)
Ceredigion: 187.1 (down from 228.4)
Powys Teaching Health Board
Powys: 115.5 (down from 127.6)
Swansea Bay University Health Board
Neath Port Talbot: 147.2 (down from 183.5)
Swansea: 163.2 (down from 187.5)
Wales total: 158.8 (down from 191.7 )
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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