JUST under 110 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across our region by Public Health Wales (PHW) today.

There have now been 13,645 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 the 107 of today’s 780 newly confirmed Welsh cases were from the northern region. The largest portion came from Wrexham and Flintshire respectively.

All North Wales cases can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – One (1.4 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Conwy – 11 (9.4 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Denbighshire – 10 (10.4 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Flintshire – 37 (23.7 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Gwynedd – Two (1.6 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Wrexham – 46 (33.8 per 100,000 population as of today)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported 545 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 676 for the health board area.

BCUHB stats:

• Confirmed cases as of December 8 – 13,645

• New cases from December 8 – 107

• Rate of new cases per 100,000 last week (November 30 to December 6) – Anglesey (47.1), Conwy (77.6), Denbighshire (94.0), Flintshire (142.2), Gwynedd (36.1), Wrexham (210.4)

The national picture:

Across Wales, another 780 COVID cases were confirmed in Wednesday’s figures, meaning that 91,792 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There were 31 newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus sadly stands at 2,725 in Wales.

Welsh Government has brought in new measures last Friday, December 4, on the hospitality industry across the country to get the virus back under control before Christmas relaxations are made.

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: “Health boards in Wales have started administering vaccines to health care workers in centres across Wales today. Initial deployment will be at vaccination centres which are mainly hospital settings.

“Health and social care workers, care home residents and staff and the over-80s will be prioritised for the first round of vaccinations.

“Wales will have nearly 40,000 doses of the vaccine initially, enough for nearly 20,000 individuals. It is expected nearly 1,000 doses will be administered in each of the health board areas by the end of the weekend.

“This is welcome news, however the effects of the vaccine may not be seen nationally for many months and it is extremely important that everyone continues to follow the advice on keeping Wales safe.”

Dr Shankar adds that data makes it “clear” that COVID cases are rising “in most parts of Wales” and “reversing the downward trend observed as a result of the fire break”.

He continues: “If we are to have meaningful and safe interactions within the permitted exclusive Christmas ‘bubble’, then everyone should now start to limit their interactions with others as much as possible in the lead up to the festive period.

“This means staying out of other people’s homes, limiting the times and the numbers of people that you meet, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene, working from home if you can, and self-isolating if you show symptoms of coronavirus or are asked to do so by contact tracers.”