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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Mark Smith

Coronavirus infection rates, cases and deaths for all parts of Wales on Tuesday, March 8

Sixteen more people have died with coronavirus, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales.

New data published on Tuesday, March 8 and covering a 72-hour period, also shows 2,628 new positive cases to bring the total to 821,797.

The number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test now stands at 7,033.

Read more: Mark Drakeford outlines Wales' plan for living with Coronavirus with no more restrictions

The latest infection rate based on PCR tests for the seven days up to March 3 is now 178 cases for every 100,000 people – a rise from the 156.1 cases recorded on Monday.

However 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, for the week to February 27, show there have been a further 9,255 positive test results reported. That's down from 11,350 the previous week. Positivity also increased slightly from 8.23% to 8.49%. The highest incidence rate was in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area with 349.5 positive tests for every 100,000 people.

The area of Wales with the highest infection rate for the seven days up to March 3 was Blaenau Gwent with 247.6 cases per 100,000 population followed by Vale of Glamorgan with 247 and Carmarthenshire with 234.1.

Cardiff recorded the most positive cases over the latest 72-hour period with 330, followed by Carmarthenshire with 187, Swansea with 181, RCT with 179, Vale of Glamorgan with 161, Flintshire with 140 and Caerphilly with 132.

Meanwhile Bridgend had 117 new cases, Wrexham had 116, Newport had 114, Neath Port Talbot had 112, Pembrokeshire had 111, Denbighshire had 89, Blaenau Gwent had 86, Monmouthshire had 84, Powys had 82, and Gwynedd had 79.

The areas with the lowest new cases reported were Torfaen and Conwy both with 69, Ceredigion with 52, Merthyr Tydfil with 30 and Anglesey with 28.

In the seven days to March 3 a total of 23% of PCR tests across Wales gave a positive result, a rise on the 21.1% reported on Monday. The highest positivity rates were in Vale of Glamorgan (28.5%), Blaenau Gwent (27.5%) and Flintshire (27.2%).

As of March 7 there were nine patients in ventilated intensive care beds with confirmed Covid-19 - and all bar one of then were based in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (the other in Hywel Dda UHB). 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 March 3 out of 433 patients in acute hospitals with Covid there were only 75 people actively being treated for Covid in Wales (20%).

A total of 2,522,096 people have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,389,857 have been given two doses. Meanwhile 1,914,048 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 March 3:

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board

Blaenau Gwent: 247.6 (up from 191.8)

Newport: 162.3 (up from 143.5)

Caerphilly: 156.8 (up from 132.5)

Torfaen: 140.5 (down from 145.8)

Monmouthshire: 175.5 (up from 153.3)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

Conwy: 176.6 (down from 183.4)

Anglesey: 132.8 (up from 122.8)

Gwynedd: 180.6 (up from 141.3)

Denbighshire: 179.7 (up from 156.7)

Flintshire: 188.3 (up from 153.1)

Wrexham: 161.8 (up from 151.5)

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Cardiff: 197.3 (up from 179.1)

Vale of Glamorgan: 247 (up from 211.1)

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

Merthyr Tydfil: 109.4 (down from 112.7)

Rhondda Cynon Taf: 180.3 (up from 136.8)

Bridgend: 119 (up from 105.4)

Hywel Dda University Health Board

Carmarthenshire: 234.1 (up from 189.1)

Pembrokeshire: 182 (up from 162.1)

Ceredigion: 145.8 (down from 165.1)

Powys Teaching Health Board

Powys: 145.7 (up from 116.3)

Swansea Bay University Health Board

Neath Port Talbot: 177.9 (up from 157.7)

Swansea: 163.2 (up from 157.5)

Wales total: 178 (up from 156.1)

The headlines from the latest ONS infection survey published on March 4 suggest the percentage of people testing positive for Covid in Wales decreased during the week ending February 26. It means cases in Wales have fallen for the third week in a row.

It estimated 94,200 people in Wales, equivalent to one in 30, had Covid in the week ending February 26. This was the same as England. However, Scotland has seen an increase with one in 19 having Covid in the last week for which data is available. Northern Ireland continues to have the highest rates of Covid in the UK, although rates are decreasing.

On Thursday evening First Minister Mark Drakeford announced that all legal Covid measures in Wales could be removed by March 28.

He said Wales will remain at alert level zero for the next three weeks but legal requirements could go following a review on March 24 if the public health situation remains stable.

If it does it means on March 28 it will no longer be compulsory to wear face coverings in shops, on public transport, or in healthcare settings on that date and self-isolation will not be required by law.

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