For the first time since the autumn WalesOnline can report parts of Wales which have virtually no Covid cases.
During the summer of 2021 we produced weekly articles documenting the parts of Wales that had fewer than two cases of coronavirus in the previous week. Under three cases Public Health Wales stops publishing data as it might identify individuals.
For more than six months there has been so much Covid around that we haven't be able to publish this piece.
However now, of the 410 areas of Wales, there are two which have had fewer than two cases of coronavirus in the last week.
Read more: You can find more coronavirus stories here.
Despite this good news there are some caveats. The switch to focusing on lateral flow tests and the accompanying deduction in PCRs has skewed the data. Just because there are no positive cases listed in an area by PHW doesn't mean that there is no Covid or that you shouldn't be cautious and follow the rules and guidance.
These are the two areas with fewer than three record Covid cases according to the latest data:
- Pentre in Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Criccieth & Llanaelhaearn in Gwynedd
For much of the pandemic, areas of RCT such as Pentre have been consistently among the areas with the highest amount of cases. An investigation found that it was not because people there were not following the rules but because of complex issues around poverty and deprivation.
What is this data?
Every day Public Health Wales publishes hyper-local data which includes areas with an average of 7,000 people, called Middle Super Output Areas. In practice, this means there are statistics for areas like Canton in Cardiff, Morriston in Swansea and Porth in Rhondda.
What about the rest of Wales?
This map shows the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people for each area in the last seven days.
It is important to bear in mind that this data is very volatile because it covers smaller areas. Where an area has a very small population even one positive case can push up the cases per 100,000 significantly. You should therefore be cautious about drawing too many conclusions directly from the information.
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