OVER 160 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across our region by Public Health Wales (PHW) today.

There have now been more than 28,860 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 161 of today’s 570 newly confirmed Welsh cases were from the northern region.

They can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – 13 (18.6 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Conwy – 16 (13.7 per 100,000 population as of today)

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

• Flintshire – 52 (33.3 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Gwynedd – 10 (8.0 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Wrexham – 54 (39.7 per 100,000 population as of today)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported 707 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 848 for the health board area.

BCUHB stats:

• Total confirmed COVID-19 cases from North Wales as of January 26 – 28,864

• New cases from today (January 26) – 161

The national picture:

Across Wales, another 570 COVID cases were confirmed in Tuesday’s figures, meaning that 189,152 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There were eight newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus sadly stands at 4,561 in Wales.

This is what Public Health Wales' has to say:

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Public Health Wales is working with Public Health England and other UK partners to monitor the impact and spread of the UK variant, and to detect and monitor other virus variants. As reported last week, there is evidence which suggests that the UK variant of concern may lead to a higher risk of death than the non-variant.

“We continue to investigate and respond to the spread of the variant and its impact in Wales. Evidence is still emerging and more work is underway to fully understand how it behaves.

“It is important to remember that all current variants of COVID-19 are still spreading and can cause severe illness and death. Therefore it is important to stay at home, and to reduce opportunities for spread by keeping your distance, washing hands regularly, and covering your face.”

Dr Shankar stressed that all of Wales remains in lockdown and that people should continue following the rules.

He continued: “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 do not meet other people.

“This means that you must 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.”