Coronavirus: Seven cases now confirmed in Caerphilly County Borough

There are now seven cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Caerphilly County Borough, Publish Health Wales has confirmed.

In an update issued on Saturday, March 14, the health body said there are 60 confirmed cases in Wales.

Dr Chris Williams, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “We can confirm that 22 new cases have tested positive for Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 60.

“The process of identifying and contacting close contacts of the new cases is underway, and we are taking all appropriate actions to protect the public’s health.”

On Wednesday it was announced the county borough had the first confirmed case of community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in Wales.

The patient had no history of recent foreign travel and had not been in contact with a person who had tested positive.

Three more cases were initially confirmed on Friday, before being updated to four. Two further cases have been confirmed today bringing the total to seven.

Today’s scheduled Six Nations clash between Wales and Scotland, which was to be held in Cardiff, was called off yesterday afternoon by the WRU, despite the organisation earlier stating it was on.

Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething yesterday announced a number of measures to ease the burden on the Welsh NHS.

He said: “As we move in our preparations from the “contain” to the “delay” phase of Covid-19, it is vital that our health and social care system in Wales is prepared.

I have taken a number decisions today to ensure early and decisive action to continue to provide care and support to the most vulnerable people in our communities, whilst also making sure organisations and professionals are supported to make timely preparations for the expected increase in the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19.

I am choosing to act now before we see a significant surge in demand so that our services can be ready to act. A larger number of people requiring high levels of care is highly likely over the coming weeks.”

The measures include cancelling non-urgent outpatient admissions and the suspension of non-urgent operations.

As of yesterday, there were 798 confirmed cases in the UK. This figure does not include today’s announcement from Wales and will rise over the weekend.