FORTY-five deaths from coronavirus have been confirmed in Gwent in the past week, according to Public Health Wales, out of 236 across Wales.

These include a further five deaths confirmed in Gwent (Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area)today, among 29 more in Wales.

They take the overall number of deaths in Gwent since the pandemic began to 880, among 4,695 in Wales.

The weekly number of deaths has fallen slightly in Gwent and across Wales since early this month, though the toll remains shockingly high.

But case numbers and rates continue to fall, with 546 new confirmations across Wales today, including 80 in Gwent, the latter being the lowest daily number in the area in more than three months.

There have been almost 191,000 cases confirmed by Public Health Wales across Wales since the pandemic began, including 37,895 in Gwent. Today's Gwent cases are: Caerphilly, 27; Newport, 17; Torfaen, 13; Monmouthshire, 12; Blaenau Gwent, 11.

The number of people who have received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine in Wales is now 362,253, including more than 26,000 who were vaccinated yesterday.

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The all-Wales rolling weekly case rate - to the week ending January 24 - has fallen to 177.3 per 100,000, and all five council areas in Gwent have rates below 200 for that period.

Newport, with a rate to January 24 of 199.1 per 100,000, continues to have the highest rolling weekly case rate in Gwent, and the fourth highest in Wales, though the rate in the city is on a downward trend over the past week.

Caerphilly (164) has the eighth highest rate in Wales, while Torfaen (156.4) has the 11th highest rate in Wales.

Blaenau Gwent (143.1) has the eighth lowest rolling weekly case rate in Wales, continuing a downward trend - albeit at a slower rate in recent days - that began late last month.

And Monmouthshire (118.4) has the fourth lowest rolling weekly case rate in Wales. Ceredigion (77) has the lowest case rate in Wales.

Nowhere in Wales is the rolling weekly case rate now above 500, with Wrexham (438.4), Flintshire (334.4) and Denbighshire (221.5) are the only three areas in Wales to have rolling weekly case rates - to January 24 - of above 200 per 100,000.

The test positivity rate across Wales for the week to January 24 was 13.3 per cent, meaning fewer than one-in-seven people tested returned a positive result for coronavirus.

All areas of Gwent recorded a test positivity rate lower than the Wales average, for that week, with the Newport the highest at 13.2 per cent.

In Blaenau Gwent (nine per cent) and Monmouthshire (9.5 per cent), fewer than one-in-10 people tested returned a positive result during that period.

The newly confirmed cases across Wales today are:

Wrexham - 59

Rhondda Cynon Taf - 41

Flintshire - 33

Cardiff - 58

Carmarthenshire - 42

Caerphilly - 27

Pembrokeshire - 27

Swansea - 26

Bridgend - 23

Powys - 22

Anglesey - 21

Newport - 17

Gwynedd - 15

Neath Port Talbot - 15

Denbighshire - 14

Torfaen - 13

Monmouthshire - 12

Blaenau Gwent - 11

Vale of Glamorgan - 10

Merthyr Tydfil - eight

Conwy - seven

Ceredigion - none

Unknown location - five

Resident outside Wales - 40

Public Health Wales figures include reports of the deaths of hospitalised patients in Welsh hospitals, or care home residents, where Covid-19 has been confirmed with a positive laboratory test and the clinician suspects this was a causative factor in the death.

They do not include people who may have died of Covid-19 but who were not confirmed by laboratory testing, those who died in other settings, or Welsh residents who died outside of Wales, and the true number of Covid-19 deaths will be higher.

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.