Wales has seen a concerning rise in the number of people catching Covid-19 in their communities. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey found that infections are rising in most parts of the UK but are still well below levels reached earlier this year.
For the week ending December 5, 55,900 infections were recorded in Wales which equates to 1.84% of the population or one in 55 people - up from 43,400 or one in 70 the week before. Meanwhile the number of patients being actively treated from the virus in Welsh hospitals has almost trebled from 22 on December 7 to 59 on December 13.
There are currently 382 "confirmed" cases of Covid in hospitals in Wales as of December 13 - compared with 242 seven days earlier - but 85% of them are being treated for something that is unrelated to the virus. The number actively being treated for the virus has however leapt from a low of 6 on November 20 to 59 on December 13. Currently 10 people are in critical care beds being specifically treated for coronavirus.
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The total number of people in private households across the UK testing positive for coronavirus stood at an estimated 1.3 million in the week to December 5, according to the ONS. That is up 16% from 1.1 million the previous week. During the main waves of coronavirus earlier in 2022 the total peaked at nearly four million in July and just under five million in March.
Michelle Bowen, head of health surveillance dissemination and strategy for the ONS, said: "Across most of the UK we have seen infections begin to increase again, with England now at similar levels to the end of September this year. The trend in infections varies across the English regions and ages, and we will continue to monitor the data carefully as the winter months progress."
Infections in England have risen for the third week in a row and stood at an estimated 1.1 million in the week ending December 5, the equivalent of one in 50 people. This is up from 941,700, or one in 60, in the week to November 26.
In Scotland, 100,700 people were estimated to have Covid-19 in the latest week, or one in 50, up from 88,500 or one in 60. In Northern Ireland, the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 stands at 38,700, or one in 45, compared with 36,700 in the previous survey, or one in 50.
Meanwhile, recent ONS data shows the Covid-19 age-standardised mortality rate for Wales was 19.9 deaths per 100,000 people in September 2022, compared to 81.0 deaths per 100,000 people in January. The rate in England was 16.7 deaths per 100,000 in September 2022 compared to 79.3 per 100,000 in January.
Ischaemic heart diseases (3,216), dementia and Alzheimer's disease (3,073), chronic lower respiratory diseases (1,641), malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung (1,510) and cerebrovascular diseases (1,396) all had more registered deaths in Wales than Covid (1,167) between January and October this year.
The most recent ONS figures also estimate there were 2.2 million people in UK private households (3.4% of the population) experiencing self-reported long Covid as of November 6. The most recent estimate for Wales rose to 114,000 as of November 6.
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