THE number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Powys has passed 250.

Two new cases today are among 166 in new cases Wales in total. There have now been 251 cases in Powys overall.

In Powys, 13 people are known to have died after contracting the disease – although Office for National Statistics figures released yesterday suggest the true number is closer to 75.

The data differs from that published by Public Health Wales, which shows 13 confirmed deaths of people with coronavirus in Powys, for a number of reasons.

The health body's figures relate to cases where coronavirus has been confirmed, and only include people who have died in hospital settings in Wales.

As such, this excludes people who have died in hospitals in England, those who have passed away in care homes, and those who died without having been tested to confirm the presence of coronavirus.

The ONS figures refer to all cases in which Covid-19 is mentioned on a death certificate, even where it may not have been the primary cause of death.

The figures also factor in additional deaths in previous weeks which had not been included previously.

Dr Giri Shankar, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Public Health Wales has been working in partnership with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics on new Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) antibody tests. In South Wales production is now well underway on the tests, which can detect antibodies that can be used to identify an immune response and may be critical in back-to-work strategies.

“Antibody testing is an important part of our strategy to counter the spread of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to help us understand who has had the disease. Knowing that the production of the test will be local to us in Wales was of great importance to us as we determined which suppliers to rely on.

“Anyone experiencing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms can now apply for a home testing kit using the new UK online portal. For further information and a link to the booking website, visit: www.gov.wales/coronavirus or www.llyw.cymru/coronafeirws. This will be supported by a national 119 phone service, through which people can also order a home test.

“Public Health Wales welcomes the recent announcement by the Health Minister of the extension of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing to all care home residents and staff.

“In conjunction with the Welsh Government’s ‘Test, Trace, Protect’ strategy published earlier this month, Public Health Wales will continue to work in partnership with our communities, the Welsh Government, the wider NHS and local government in Wales to focus on protecting the health of the people of Wales as we support the implementation of the strategy.