FIFTY-five new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across Gwent today, including 20 in Blaenau Gwent and 11 in Newport, as both areas face the prospect of local lockdown restrictions from 6pm tomorrow evening.

Caerphilly - already in local lockdown - saw a further 15 cases confirmed today, with five more in Torfaen and four in Monmouthshire.

Across Wales there have been 234 new cases confirmed today, with none of the 22 council areas escaping a new case or cases.

There are 40 new cases in Rhondda Cynon Taf, also in lockdown, and 31 in Cardiff, as the prospect of a regional lockdown in South Wales grows.

No more deaths have been recorded in Wales today, according to Public Health Wales, so the overall figure since the pandemic began remains at 1,603.

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A look at the case rate per 100,000 population during the past week gives an indication of why the decision has been taken to increase the number of parts of South Wales in lockdown.

In Merthyr Tydfil, the weekly case rate is 102.8, more than three times the all-Wales average (29.2 per 100,000).

In Rhondda Cynon Taf it is 83.3, in Blaenau Gwent 60.1, in Caerphilly 53, and in Newport 45.3.

More than one-in20 (5.5 per cent) of people tested for coronavirus in Blaeanu Gwent in the last week got a positive result, and in neighbouring Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil, it was 5.9 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively.

The new confirmed cases across Wales today, are in the following areas:

Rhondda Cynon Taf - 40

Cardiff - 31

Blaenau Gwent - 20

Caerphilly - 15

Bridgend - 14

Merthyr Tydfil -12

Carmarthenshire - 12

Swansea - 12

Newport - 11

Flintshire - 10

Vale of Glamorgan - eight

Anglesey - seven

Denbighshire - six

Neath Port Talbot - six

Torfaen - five

Pembrokeshire - five

Monmouthshire - four

Gwynedd - four

Conwy -three

Wrexham - two

Ceredigion - one

Powys - one

Resident outside Wales - five

Public Health Wales figures for coronavirus deaths include only those that have been confirmed by a laboratory test. The Office for National Statistics - which counts all deaths in which coronavirus is mentioned on the death certificate - puts the number of deaths in Wales much higher.