THERE have been 213 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Wales today, as case rates continue to rise - and the first death due to the virus in 10 days has also been confirmed.

The rolling weekly case rate in Wales - to June 18, the latest available - is 32.2 cases per 100,000 people.

The rate in Gwent (Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area) to the same date is 15.7 per 100,000, the second lowest of Wales' seven health board areas, behind Cwm Taf Morgannwg (12.9).

Only Merthyr Tydfil, of Wales' 22 council areas, has a case rate of below 10 per 100,000 (6.6).

Blaenau Gwent, with 10 per 100,000, has the lowest weekly case rate in Gwent, to June 18, and the second lowest in Wales.

Torfaen (12.8 per 100,000) has the fourth lowest rate in Wales, and Newport (12.9) has the fifth lowest rate. Monmouthshire (19) has, with Bridgend, the joint seventh lowest case rate in Wales, and Caerphilly (19.9) has the ninth lowest rate.

Despite the increases in recent weeks however, the relatively low rates still mean that even small fluctuations in case numbers in individual council areas can have a big effect on their case rates.

Of the new cases confirmed today in Wales, 19 are in Gwent - seven in Caerphilly, four each in Monmouthshire and Newport, three in Blaenau Gwent, and one in Torfaen.

The number of cases in Wales since the pandemic began stands at 215,593, including 42,074 in Gwent. The number of deaths in Wales since the pandemic began stands at 5,573, including 961 in Gwent.

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In Wales, 2,242,482 people have had a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, and 1,5523,091 people have now completed their two-dose vaccine course.

The Wales-wide test positivity rate for the week to June 18 is 2.6 per cent. Caerphilly (two per cent) has the highest test positivity rate in Gwent.

The confirmed new cases for the past two days in Wales are:

Flintshire - 26

Cardiff - 25

Swansea - 22

Denbighshire - 17

Rhondda Cynon Taf - 13

Wrexham - 12

Conwy - 11

Vale of Glamorgan - nine

Caerphilly - seven

Pembrokeshire - six

Powys - six

Bridgend - five

Monmouthshire - four

Newport - four

Neath Port Talbot - four

Blaenau Gwent - three

Anglesey - three

Carmarthenshire - three

Gwynedd - two

Torfaen - one

Ceredigion - one

Merthyr Tydfil - none

Unknown location - two

Resident outside Wales - 27

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.