OVER 300 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across our region by Public Health Wales (PHW) today.

There have now been almost 26,340 lab-confirmed cases of the virus from the combined counties that make up the North Wales region since the outbreak of the pandemic - after more incidents were confirmed in the latest figures released today.

Public Health Wales confirmed that 313 of today’s 1,172 newly confirmed Welsh cases were from the northern region.

They can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – 14 (20.0 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Conwy – 33 (28.2 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Denbighshire – 40 (41.8 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Flintshire – 87 (55.7 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Gwynedd – 49 (39.3 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Wrexham – 90 (66.2 per 100,000 population as of today)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported 660 people have sadly died to date according to PHW data.

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 818 for the health board area.

BCUHB stats:

• Total confirmed COVID-19 cases from North Wales as of January 17 – 26,339

• New cases from today (January 17) – 313

The national picture:

Across Wales, another 1,172 COVID cases were confirmed in Sunday’s figures, meaning that 180,161 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There were 48 newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus sadly stands at 4,274 in Wales.

This is what Public Health Wales' has to say:

Dr Eleri Davies, incident director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “The number of positive Coronavirus cases remains extremely high in Wales and is cause for serious concern, due to the impact on NHS Wales services.

“All of Wales remains in lockdown. We ask that the public adopts the same mindset for this lockdown as they did in March 2020.

“We understand that people are fatigued but because the new, more infectious variant of coronavirus is circulating across Wales it is vital that we all keep to the lockdown restrictions and not to meet other people.

“This means stay at home. If exercising outdoors, please do this alone or with members of your household or support bubble only. Shop online, but if you do need to visit essential retail then do this alone, if possible, to minimise numbers of people in retail spaces, and avoid stopping to chat with people outside your household.

“If you must leave home keep your distance, wash your hands regularly, and wear a face mask when required according to the regulations.

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

“Public Health Wales is working with UK partners to investigate and respond to the new variant of coronavirus identified in Wales. The new variant is easier to spread and the public should remain highly vigilant in measures to prevent transmission including maintaining social distancing, regularly handwashing and wearing of face coverings.”

Dr Davies stressed that, though the new variant is more infectious, there is “no evidence that it leads to more severe disease”.