NINETY-seven new coronavirus cases have been confirmed across Gwent today, with 47 of those in Blaenau Gwent and 24 in Newport, where local lockdowns began last night.

The rise in infections in Gwent shows no sign of stopping, but that is true too for many other areas of Wales, with 389 new cases confirmed across the country today, the largest amount since mid-April.

In Rhondda Cynon Taf, also locked down, there were 93 new cases confirmed today.

There were 16 new cases in Caerphilly, nine in Torfaen, and one in Monmouthshire.

READ MORE:

Sign up to the South Wales Argus daily coronavirus update email newsletter by registering here.

Two new coronavirus-related death were confirmed today, both in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area that includes locked-down Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil.

That brings the total to 1,605 in Wales, according to Public Health Wales, since the pandimic began.

The surge in cases in Blaenau Gwent deepened further today, contributing in turn to a big increase in the area's case rate during the past week, which is now 136 per 100,000 population, more than three times the all-Wales rate for the same period (38.9 per 100,000).

That Blaenau Gwent case rate has now surpassed that for Rhondda Cynon Taf for the past week (123.5) and is only just lower than Merthyr Tydfil (137.6).

One-in-10 people tested in Blaenau Gwent during the past week have received a positive result, with 95 cases confirmed out of 936 tests.

The positive test rate in Rhondda Cynon Taf is 8.2 per cent, in Merthyr Tydfil seven per cent, and in Newport, 4.3 per cent. 

The case rate per 100,000 in Newport in the past week is 49.1.

The newly comnfirmed cases across Wales today can be found as follows:

Rhondda Cynon Taf - 93

Blaenau Gwent - 47

Swansea - 37

Cardiff - 35

Bridgend - 29

Newport - 24

Merthyr Tydfil - 24

Carmarthenshire - 19

Caerphilly - 16

Vale of Glamorgan - 10

Torfaen - nine

Denbighshire - eight

Anglesey - five

Conwy - five

Flintshire - five

Neath Port Talbot - four

Wrexham - three

Pembrokeshire - two

Powys - two

Monmouthshire - one

Gwynedd - one

Unknown location - four

Resident outside Wales - nine

 

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.