Two more people have died with coronavirus in Wales, according to latest figures from Public Health Wales.
The data, published on Tuesday, January 25 and covering the 24-hour period, shows 1,977 new positive cases to bring the total to 763,031.
The overall number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive in Wales has now reached 6,784.
Read more: The huge Covid rule changes in Wales this week
The latest infection rate based on PCR tests, for the seven days up to January 20, now stands at 483.7 cases for every 100,000 people – up on the 473.3 recorded on Monday. It is the second day in a row that the infection rate is reported to have risen.
The infection rate based on PCR tests is only a guide to the spread of Covid in Wales as it does not include lateral flow test results, which are reported weekly in Wales. People with no symptoms who test positive on an LFT no longer need a confirmatory PCR test.
The highest infection rate in each Welsh local authority for the seven days between January 14 and January 20 was Newport with 795.2 cases per 100,000, followed by Neath Port Talbot with 608.4 and Merthyr Tydfil with 603.4.
Cardiff recorded the most positive cases over the latest 24-hour period with 274, followed by Carmarthenshire with 173, Newport with 140, Caerphilly with 139, Swansea with 135, Rhondda Cynon Taf with 116, Bridgend with 110 and Wrexham with 100.
Local authorities reporting under 100 new cases included Vale of Glamorgan with 87, Torfaen with 81, Flintshire with 74, Neath Port Talbot with 71, Pembrokeshire with 56, Powys with 52 and Denbighshire with 50.
The areas with the lowest cases were Blaenau Gwent with 47, Merthyr Tydfil with 44, Conwy with 42, Monmouthshire with 39, Gwynedd with 32, Anglesey with 23 and Ceredigion with 12.
The percentage of PCR tests coming back positive has risen slightly. In the seven days to January 20 a total of 33.6% of tests across Wales gave a positive result, up from 33.2% reported on Monday.
The highest positivity rates were in Newport (40.8%) Neath Port Talbot (38.5%), and Cardiff (38.4%).
As of January 24 there were 1,016 people in general and acute hospital beds with coronavirus (confirmed, suspected, and recovering), a rise on the 1,003 on January 21. However, within that data the number of confirmed Covid patients has fallen from 586 on January 21 to 527 on January 24.
There were 19 people in ventilated intensive care beds with confirmed Covid-19 on January 24. This was down on the 26 reported on January 21 and half the Omicron wave peak of 39 on January 5.
A total of 2,506,323 people have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 2,359,337 have been given two doses. Meanwhile, 1,816,545 people have been given their booster jabs in Wales. The Welsh Government has confirmed that all eligible adults were offered one by the end of December.
Infection rate for every 100,000 people in each area for the seven days up to January 20
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Blaenau Gwent: 565.4 (down from 611.2)
Newport: 795.2 (up from 744.8)
Caerphilly: 533.5 (up from 510.8)
Torfaen: 502.3 (up from 468.3)
Monmouthshire: 408.1 (down from 439.8)
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Conwy: 344.7 (down from 367.7)
Anglesey: 321.2 (down from 344.1)
Gwynedd: 279.4 (up from 264.1)
Denbighshire: 379.3 (up from 373.1)
Flintshire: 333.8 (up from 317.7)
Wrexham: 511.9 (down from 521.5)
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Cardiff: 568.8 (up from 538)
Vale of Glamorgan: 430.4 (up from 405)
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Merthyr Tydfil: 603.4 (down from 624.9)
Rhondda Cynon Taf: 467.5 (up from 454.7)
Bridgend: 503.9 (up from 495.1)
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Carmarthenshire: 590.1 (up from 577.9)
Pembrokeshire: 333 (up from 313.2)
Ceredigion: 222.8 (down from 224.2)
Powys Teaching Health Board
Powys: 293 (up from 280.1)
Swansea Bay University Health Board
Neath Port Talbot: 608.4 (unchanged)
Swansea: 538.9 (up from 537.3)
Wales total: 483.7 (up from 473.3)
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics to January 12 show that the rate Covid is spreading in Wales is falling. This is based on population sampling and is not affected by changes to testing rules.
In Wales, almost one in 25 people had Covid in Wales in the last week – lower than in England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. The ONS estimated that 169,100 people in Wales, equivalent to one in 20, had Covid in the previous week.
The headlines indicate the percentage of people testing positive for Covid increased rapidly in the run-up to Christmas but slowed up during the first week of January and is now dropping dramatically.
Data published on lateral flow tests, which is updated weekly in Wales, show that there has been another slight increase in the number of positive tests. There were a total of 15,393 positive tests out of 383,021 tests carried out and registered.
First Minister Mark Drakeford confirmed last Thursday that Wales would move to alert level zero on January 28 unless the public health situation changed for the worse.
The latest public health data suggests Wales has passed the peak of the Omicron wave and coronavirus cases are falling back to levels similar to those seen earlier in the autumn.
From Friday, January 28, Wales is on track to complete the move to alert level zero. This means:
- Nightclubs will re-open.
- Businesses, employers and other organisations must continue to undertake a specific coronavirus risk assessment and take reasonable measures to minimise the spread of coronavirus.
- The general requirement of 2m social distancing in all premises open to the public and workplaces will be removed.
- The rule of six will no longer apply to gatherings in regulated premises, such as hospitality, cinemas and theatres.
- Licensed premises will no longer need to only provide table service and collect contact details.
- Working from home will remain part of advice from the Welsh Government but it will no longer be a legal requirement.
The Covid pass will continue to be required to enter larger indoor events, nightclubs, cinemas, theatres and concert halls.
The next three-weekly review of the coronavirus regulations will be carried out by February 11 when the Welsh Government will review all the measures at alert level zero.
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