THERE have been 438 new cases of coronavirus confirmed today across Wales - the highest number in a single day in four-and-a-half months.

And the rolling weekly case rate in Wales - to June 19, the latest available - is 35.6 cases per 100,000 people, almost five times that of three weeks earlier.

Daily confirmations have not been so high since February 8 (610) - and three weeks prior to the latest rolling weekly case rate figure, the rate was just 7.5 per 100,000 (for the week to May 29).

There are 29 Gwent cases among today's new confirmations - Caerphilly, 11; Newport, seven; Monmouthshire, four; Torfaen, four; Blaenau Gwent, three - and the rolling weekly case rate in Gwent (Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area) to June 19 is more than half that for Wales as a whole, at 17.2 per 100,000.

This is the second lowest for that week among Wales' seven health board areas, behind Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB (13.6), but rates are rising in al parts of Wales.

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

Blaenau Gwent, with 12.9 per 100,000, has the lowest weekly case rate in Gwent, to June 19, and the third lowest in Wales.

Torfaen (14.9 per 100,000) has the fourth lowest rate in Wales, and Newport (16.2) has the fifth lowest rate. Caerphilly (18.8) has the sixth lowest rate in Wales, and Monmouthshire (21.1) 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.

There have been no new coronavirus deaths confirmed today in Wales.

The number of cases in Wales since the pandemic began stands at 216,030, including 42,103 in Gwent. The number of deaths in Wales since the pandemic began stands at 5,573, including 961 in Gwent.

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Vaccination figures for Wales have yet to be updated by Public Health Wales, but as of the end of Tuesday, 2,242,482 people had received a first dose, and 1,553,091 people had completed their two-dose vaccine course.

The Wales-wide test positivity rate for the week to June 19 is 2.8 per cent. Monmouthshire (two per cent) has the highest test positivity rate in Gwent.

The confirmed new cases today in Wales are:

Cardiff - 52

Swansea - 44

Flintshire - 39

Wrexham - 31

Denbighshire - 24

Conwy - 23

Gwynedd - 22

Rhondda Cynon Taf - 16

Neath Port Talbot - 16

Pembrokeshire - 15

Bridgend - 13

Caerphilly - 11

Vale of Glamorgan - 11

Anglesey - nine

Powys - nine

Ceredigion - eight

Newport - seven

Carmarthenshire - seven

Monmouthshire - four

Torfaen - four

Blaenau Gwent - three

Merthyr Tydfil - three

Unknown location - two

Resident outside Wales - 64

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.