A Welsh health board has cancelled many of its elective procedures due to a recent increase in Covid admissions.
At the start of the first Covid wave in 2020, then health minister Vaughan Gething ordered the cancellation of all elective (non-urgent) procedures to deal with the incoming Covid wave. Though understandable this has led to an enormous backlog of people waiting for elective procedures which includes many in chronic pain.
Covid rates are currently higher in Wales than in any other part of the UK. This has led to Cardiff and Vale University Health Board cancelling many of its elective procedures as more Covid patients have started presenting in hospital.
Read more: Wales has the highest Covid rate in the UK
A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: "The recent increase in Covid-19 admissions in our hospitals has put additional pressure on our services. Whilst our teams continue to work hard to provide safe access to all services, the health board took a difficult decision last week to postpone some non-urgent elective surgery for a short period of time to release capacity to support current operational pressures.
"We apologise to any patient who has had their surgery postponed at short notice. We recognise this can be very upsetting and disruptive but would like to thank you for your continued cooperation and support during this difficult time."
According to the Welsh Government, on April 14 there were 211 confirmed Covid positive patients in general and acute beds in Cardiff and Vale UHB - the most of any health board. Some 52 patients were being treated specifically for Covid.
How high is the Covid rate in Wales?
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey suggests that 231,900 people in Wales had the disease in the week ending April 9. That is equivalent to 7.63% of the population or around one in 13 people. It is a small rise on the 7.59% of the population estimated to have Covid-19 in the previous week in Wales.
The infection rate is falling in most parts of the UK including England as a whole, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However it is still rising in the north east region of England. The ONS survey is now the most reliable method of assessing the spread of Covid in Wales as it is based on a randomised survey and is not dependent on routing testing, which is now no longer available in any part of the UK.
How does Wales compare to other areas of the UK?
Wales - estimated that 231,900 people had Covid over the previous week equating to 7.63% of the population or around one in 13 people.
England - estimated that 3,773,800 people had Covid equating to 6.92% of the population or around one in 14 people.
Northern Ireland - estimated that 95,900 people had Covid equating to 5.23% of the population or around one in 19 people.
Scotland - estimated that 314,800 people had Covid equating to 5.98% of the population or around one in 17 people.
The ONS gather this data by actively swabbing people at random to try and build a picture of the current Covid situation. WalesOnline wrote an analysis of how the Welsh Government's decision to stop free lateral flow tests without symptoms which you can read here.
