JUST under 130 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across our region by Public Health Wales (PHW) today.

There have now been 12,943 lab-confirmed cases of the virus from the combined counties that make up the North Wales region since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Public Health Wales confirmed that 129 of today’s 1,480 newly confirmed Welsh cases were from the northern region. The largest portion came from Wrexham and Flintshire respectively.

All North Wales cases can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – 11 (15.7 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Conwy – 13 (11.1 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Denbighshire – 16 (16.7 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Flintshire – 39 (25.0 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Gwynedd – Five (4.0 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Wrexham – 45 (33.1 per 100,000 population as of today)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported 538 people have sadly died to date according to PHW data – an increase of 11 compared to December 1.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics, which are considered a stronger indicator of the overall impact of the virus, and which are based on all deaths where COVID is mentioned on the death certificate, stand at 654 for the health board area.

Across Wales, another 1,480 COVID cases were confirmed in Wednesday’s figures, meaning that 82,489 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There were 51 newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus sadly stands at 2,614 in Wales.

Welsh Government will bring new measures into force this Friday, December 4, on the hospitality industry across the country to get the virus back under control before Christmas relaxations are made.

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has now authorised the first COVID-19 vaccine as safe and effective on the basis of detailed independent expert review of evidence from large scale clinical trials.

“The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has become the first to receive MHRA clearance in the UK and 40 million doses of the vaccine will shortly be available for delivery across the UK, with Wales getting its allocation based on population.

“This is welcome news, however the effects of the vaccine may not be seen nationally for many months and it is extremely important that everyone continues to follow the advice on keeping Wales safe.”

Dr Shankar adds that data makes it “clear” that COVID cases are rising “in most parts of Wales” and “reversing the downward trend observed as a result of the fire break”.

He continues: “The Welsh Government have introduced restrictions for the hospitality sector from Friday, December 4, ahead of Christmas period in order to reduce the opportunities for the virus to spread in our communities and to keep people safe.

“Public Health Wales strongly urges everyone to follow these rules, to avoid transmission of Coronavirus and to protect everyone in our communities, including the most vulnerable.”