
Sixteen more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Caerphilly County Borough, the latest Public Health Wales (PHW) figures show.
The latest headline figure was released on Wednesday (September 23) and shows the number of cases PHW was made aware of on Tuesday (September 22).
However, PHW has said there’s been a “lag in receiving data”, and has warned that recent figures may be an “underestimate”.
Across Wales, 389 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the latest figures – with two deaths.
Of these 389 cases, 93 were recorded in Rhondda Cynon Taf, 47 in Blaenau Gwent, 29 in Bridgend County, 24 in Merthyr Tydfil County and 24 in Newport. All of these local authorities have, like Caerphilly, been placed under a local lockdown.
Meanwhile, PHW has been made aware of 35 new cases in Cardiff, nine in Torfaen and one in Monmouthshire.
In the last seven days, 68 new cases have been recorded in Caerphilly County Borough.
In comparison, there have been 298 new cases recorded in Rhondda Cynon Taf in the same time period, with 106 in Bridgend County, 95 in Blaenau Gwent, 83 in Merthyr Tydfil County and 76 in Newport.
A temporary coronavirus testing centre has been set up in the car park at New Tredegar Business Park, with the temporary testing centre at Caerphilly Leisure Centre set to remain open until September 28.
The test centre at the council offices in Tredomen has now closed.
What does ‘headline figure’ mean?
In recent weeks, Caerphilly Observer and other media have been reporting the headline figures from Public Health Wales.
For example, the headline figure released on Wednesday, September 23, saw 16 new positive tests reported.
This figure however is not entirely as it seems at first glance. It is the number of new cases PHW were aware of as of September 22 – the day before.
Even then, this figure is still not what you think it ought to be as it includes positive tests that may have occurred a few days prior, but that PHW were only made aware of on September 22.
The headline figure for Caerphilly County Borough for September 22 (which was published on September 23) is 16 new cases.
The latest spreadsheet containing the detailed data, which can be downloaded from the PHW stats website, actually shows no new cases for September 22.
This is because the 16 cases were actually tested for a few days prior, but PHW only became aware of them on September 22. We will have a far more accurate reflection of what has been going on in the last few days over the course of the next week.
However, the figures do show the week up to September 20 saw 121 new cases of coronavirus recorded in Caerphilly County Borough. The week prior to that (September 7 to 13) saw 216.
Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters
From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts.
Become a member today