A RECORD 14,000 people have tested positive for Covid in Wales in a single day, according to the latest official figures.
Public Health Wales said 14,036 people gave a positive coronavirus test in a 24-hour period to 9am on Friday, December 31 - the most recent data available.
These cases are out of more than 27,000 tests, meaning roughly half of the people who got tested on New Year's Eve had a positive result.
The record-high figure is provisional and may yet be amended, owing to some disruptions to the way Covid data is recorded and reported over the Christmas and New Year period. Public Health Wales did report 21,000 cases in a single update last week, but that was for a 48-hour period.
Some 2,526 of the cases reported today were found in Gwent's Aneurin Bevan University Health Board region - the highest of any health board area in Wales.
The figures come as first minister Mark Drakeford warns of a "difficult" January, driven by the Omicron variant, that research suggests spreads more quickly but is less likely to lead to severe illness than the Delta strain.
MORE NEWS:
- Locked Up: Drug dealers, thugs and robber jailed
- Newport's own Bake Off star on how fostering changed his family
- Teachers' union calls for more support to avoid Covid disruption this term
Cases of Covid generally have rocketed since mid-December and dwarf the highs of last winter's peak, when daily cases topped 3,500. The big difference between now and then, of course, is that 12 months ago the vaccine programme had barely taken off, and now millions of us have been immunised against the worst effects of the virus.
There are currently 636 people in Welsh hospitals who are deemed Covid patients, either because they have confirmed or suspected infection, or because they are recovering from the virus. That's a far cry from 12 months ago, when around 2,800 people were in Welsh hospitals with coronavirus.
Today's statistical update also shows that another 14 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in Wales, bringing the national death toll during the pandemic to 6,581 people, according to the Public Health Wales definition.
Meanwhile, 1.6 million people in Wales have now received their Covid booster jab.
Here are the latest figures by council area in Wales, for the 24-hour period to 9am on New Year's Eve:
Anglesey - 238
Blaenau Gwent - 400
Bridgend - 700
Caerphilly - 749
Cardiff - 1,461
Carmarthenshire - 569
Ceredigion - 179
Conwy - 568
Denbighshire - 385
Flintshire - 585
Gwynedd - 311
Merthyr Tydfil - 213
Monmouthshire - 234
Neath Port Talbot - 683
Newport - 674
Pembrokeshire - 299
Powys - 387
Rhondda Cynon Taf - 1,115
Swansea - 1,030
Torfaen - 469
Vale of Glamorgan - 521
Wrexham - 354
Unknown location - 51
Resident outside Wales – 1,861
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel