Corona Virus latest: 30 New Cases in Wales
Public Health Wales have confirmed an additional 30 cases of Coronavirus since yesterday in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 124.
The total includes the first cases in Torfaen, Ceredigion, Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taf, although they say many sufferers are only suffering mild illness and only those being admitted to hospital are currently being tested for the disease.
The table below shows the number of cases by local authority as of today Monday, 16 March.
| Local Authority | Number of cases on 15 March | Number of new cases | Total number of cases as of 11am, 16 March |
| Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Bridgend County Borough Council | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Caerphilly County Borough Council | 11 | 3 | 14 |
| Carmarthenshire County Council | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Ceredigion County Council | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| City and County of Swansea | 22 | 1 | 23 |
| City of Cardiff Council | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| Conwy County Borough Council | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Denbighshire County Council | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Flintshire County Council | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gwynedd Council | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isle of Anglesey County Council | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Monmouthshire County Council | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Neath Port Talbot Council | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Newport City Council | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Pembrokeshire County Council | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Powys County Council | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Torfaen County Borough Council | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Vale of Glamorgan Council | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wrexham County Borough Council | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Residential area to be confirmed | 12 | ||
| Resident outside Wales | 2 | ||
| Total: | 124 |
Dr Giri Shankar, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, explained how people should respond if they believe they have contracted the illness:
“The advice for the public changed. People no longer need to contact NHS 111 if they think they may have contracted Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Instead, anyone who has a high temperature or a new continuous cough should stay at home for seven days. They should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
“They should only contact NHS 111 if they feel they cannot cope with their symptoms at home, their condition gets worse, or their symptoms do not get better after seven days.”
“The public play an important role in this new phase. By following the latest advice, you will protect yourself, protect the most vulnerable, and delay and flatten the peak, which will reduce the pressure on NHS Wales and minimise the impact of the virus.
“The move into the ‘delay’ phase, will include working closely with health boards, NHS 111 and the Welsh Government towards transitioning away from community testing and contact tracing. Testing will now focus on cases admitted to hospital, in line with national guidance, and based on symptoms and severity.
“The move away from community testing gives us greater capacity to test in hospital settings, where the most vulnerable patients will be cared for.
“While there is no longer a need to identify every case through community testing, we will still need to and will be able to report on Novel Coronavirus level in Wales. In a similar way to our seasonal flu reporting, we will be undertaking routine Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) surveillance which will help us understand the picture in Wales.
“We will therefore continue in the short term to report numbers of confirmed cases, which will give us some indication of the picture in Wales.
