United Kingdom

Wales still has the highest Covid rate in the UK, although cases are declining

Wales remains the nation in the United Kingdom with the highest rate of Covid-19 infection, despite a drop in cases for the second week in a row, according to the latest figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 172,300 people in Wales were infected with the virus in the week ending 23 April, or 5.67% of the population, or about one in 18 people.

This is a decline of 198,400 people (6.53%) with the disease in Wales in the previous week, or about one in 15 people. The positive rate seems to be highest in Cardiff and the Glamorgan Valley, followed by the Bridgend, Ronda Keenon Taff and Merthyr Tidfil regions, although the differences between the regions are “small”. Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Powys have lower levels of positivity.

The picture was similar in England and Scotland, with each seeing a drop in their Covid levels again. In England, about one in 25 (4.42%) had Covid in the week ending April 23, and it is also one in 25 in Scotland (4.14%). However, Northern Ireland has seen a slight increase in infections, with 74,700 people probably having Covid-19 last week, or one in 25, compared to 65,300, or one in 30. The ONS describes the trend in Northern Ireland as ” uncertain “.

The data show that the recent surge in coronavirus, caused mainly by Omicron BA.2, has reached its peak. However, the virus is still circulating at high levels in much of the country. You can get more health news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.

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It is estimated that in the UK about 2.9 million people in private households had Covid-19 in the week to April 23, down from 3.8 million in the previous week. The total number of those infected in the UK reached a weekly record of 4.9 million at the end of March.

The study of ONS infections is now the most reliable measure for the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. It uses a sample of tampon tests collected regularly from tens of thousands of households, and is therefore able to estimate the percentage of people who are likely to test positive for coronavirus at any given time, regardless of when they caught the virus or how many times they became infected. have had it and have symptoms.

Meanwhile, the latest data from side-flow tests taken in Wales show that there have been fewer positive tests in the last week, down from 16,043 in the previous week to 12,194 for the week of 18 to 24 April. However, changes in testing requirements, as tests are only available to people with symptoms, which means it is no longer a reliable guide to a pandemic.

Hospital figures show that the number of people in acute treatment hospitals treated by Covid, in contrast to the fact that they are in hospital for another reason and tested positive for Covid, has remained relatively static in the last week. On April 28, 455 “confirmed” patients with Covid were hospitalized, but only 86 of them were actively treated for the virus. A week earlier, those numbers were 572 and 89, respectively.

The number of patients in beds in the intensive care unit with Covid has increased in the last week from 18 to 22 April to 25 to 28 April. Cardiff and Vale UHB has the most of all health councils with 12, followed by Hywel Dda UHB with six, Swansea Bay UHB with three and Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB and Betsi Cadwaladr UHB both with two.

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