Four more people have died with coronavirus in Wales, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales.
The data, published on Wednesday, January 26 and covering a 24-hour period, shows 2,707 new positive cases to bring the total to 765,737.
The overall number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive in Wales has now reached 6,788.
Read more: The huge Covid rule changes in Wales this week
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests, for the seven days up to January 21, now stands at 496.3 cases for every 100,000 people – up on the 483.7 recorded on Tuesday. It is the third day in a row that the infection rate is reported to have risen.
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.
Separate data published today by the Office for National Statistics, which is not affected by changes to testing rules as it is based a random survey suggests cases have been falling rapidly in Wales since January 6. See the full story on that here.
The highest infection rate in each Welsh local authority for the seven days between January 15 and January 21 was Newport with 839.8 cases per 100,000, followed by Merthyr Tydfil with 636.5 and Carmarthenshire with 612.9.
Cardiff recorded the most positive cases over the latest 24-hour period with 412, followed by Swansea with 270, Newport with 226, Carmarthenshire with 219, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 198, Caerphilly with 157, Neath Port Talbot with 141, Vale of Glamorgan with 137 and Bridgend with 123.
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Local authorities reporting under 100 new cases included Flintshire with 95, Torfaen with 84, Wrexham with 83, Powys with 73, Blaenau Gwent with 70, Pembrokeshire with 67 and Merthyr Tydfil with 63.
The areas with the lowest cases were Denbighshire with 54, Conwy with 45, Monmouthshire with 43, Ceredigion with 35, Anglesey with 23, and Gwynedd with 17.
The percentage of PCR tests coming back positive has risen slightly. In the seven days to January 21 a total of 34% of tests across Wales gave a positive result, up from 33.6% reported on Tuesday.
The highest positivity rates were in Newport (41.1%), Cardiff (38.3%), and Neath Port Talbot (37.9%).
As of January 25 there were 959 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus (confirmed, suspected, and recovering), a fall on the 1,016 on January 24. Within that data the number of confirmed Covid patients has fallen from 527 on January 24 to 491 on January 25.
There were 22 people in ventilated intensive care beds with confirmed Covid-19 on January 25. This was up on the 19 reported on January 24 but still almost half the Omicron wave peak of 39 on January 5.
A total of 2,506,323 people have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,359,337 have been given two doses. Meanwhile, 1,816,545 people have been given their booster jabs in Wales. The Welsh Government has confirmed that all eligible adults were offered one by the end of December.
Infection rate for every 100,000 people in each area for the seven days up to January 21
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Blaenau Gwent: 584 (up from 565.4)
Newport: 839.8 (up from 795.2)
Caerphilly: 562.2 (up from 533.5)
Torfaen: 547 (up from 502.3)
Monmouthshire: 395.4 (down from 408.1)
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Conwy: 326.8 (down from 344.7)
Anglesey: 315.5 (down from 321.2)
Gwynedd: 284.2 (up from 279.4)
Denbighshire: 399.2 (up from 379.3)
Flintshire: 341.4 (up from 333.8)
Wrexham: 525.2 (up from 511.9)
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Cardiff: 577.8 (up from 568.8)
Vale of Glamorgan: 468.6 (up from 430.4)
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Merthyr Tydfil: 636.5 (up from 603.4)
Rhondda Cynon Taf: 470 (up from 467.5)
Bridgend: 524.3 (up from 503.9)
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Carmarthenshire: 612.9 (up from 590.1)
Pembrokeshire: 340.2 (up from 333)
Ceredigion: 221.5 (down from 222.8)
Powys Teaching Health Board
Powys: 290.7 (down from 293)
Swansea Bay University Health Board
Neath Port Talbot: 602.9 (down from 608.4)
Swansea: 546.6 (up from 538.9)
Wales total: 496.3 (up from 483.7 )
According to the ONS, almost one in 25 people had Covid in Wales in the week ending January 15 15– lower than in England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
Data published on lateral flow tests, which is updated weekly in Wales, show that there has been another slight increase in the number of positive tests. There were a total of 15,393 positive tests out of 383,021 tests carried out and registered.
First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed last week that Wales would move to alert level zero on January 28 unless the public health situation changed for the worse.
The latest public health data suggests Wales has passed the peak of the Omicron wave and coronavirus cases are falling back to levels similar to those seen earlier in the autumn.
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From Friday, January 28, Wales is on track to complete the move to alert level zero. This means:
- Nightclubs will re-open.
- Businesses, employers and other organisations must continue to undertake a specific coronavirus risk assessment and take reasonable measures to minimise the spread of coronavirus.
- The general requirement of 2m social distancing in all premises open to the public and workplaces will be removed.
- The rule of six will no longer apply to gatherings in regulated premises, such as hospitality, cinemas and theatres.
- Licensed premises will no longer need to only provide table service and collect contact details.
- Working from home will remain part of advice from the Welsh Government but it will no longer be a legal requirement.
The Covid pass will continue to be required to enter larger indoor events, nightclubs, cinemas, theatres and concert halls.
It was also announced that people in Wales will be able to leave self-isolation after five full days providing they have two consecutive negative lateral flow tests on day five and six, 24 hours apart.
The next three-weekly review of the coronavirus regulations will be carried out by February 11 when the Welsh Government will review all the measures at alert level zero.
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