ALMOST 140 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across our region by Public Health Wales (PHW) today.

There have now been 15,69 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 136 of today’s 2,334 newly confirmed Welsh cases were from the northern region.

They can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – Three (4.3 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Conwy – Eight (6.8 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Denbighshire – 21 (21.9 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Flintshire – 41 (26.3 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Gwynedd – 14 (11.2 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Wrexham – 49 (36.0 per 100,000 population as of today)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported 571 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 726 for the health board area.

BCUHB stats:

• Total confirmed cases as of December 20 – 15,691

• New cases from today (December 20) – 192

• Rate of new cases per 100,000 last week (December 7 to 13) – Anglesey (37.1), Conwy (76.8), Denbighshire (164.1), Flintshire (234.5), Gwynedd (77.1), Wrexham (360.4)

The national picture:

Across Wales, another 2,334 COVID cases were confirmed in Sunday’s figures, meaning that 122,766 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There were 69 newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus sadly stands at 3,115 in Wales.

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: “Public Health Wales is working with the Welsh Government, local health boards, local authorities and other partners following the announcement of national restrictions in Wales from midnight December 20.

“Under the new restrictions, people must stay at home, except for very limited purposes. People must not visit other households or meet other people they do not live with.  Non-essential retail, close contact services, gyms and leisure centres, and hospitality will also close.

“Rules which allow two households to come together to form a Christmas bubble will now apply on Christmas Day only.”

Dr Shankar adds that, as indicated by the Welsh Government, the immediate introduction of new restrictions is related to the identification of a new more transmissible variant of the virus.

He continued: “Public Health Wales has been working with UK partners to investigate and respond to this variant.

“It is normal for viruses to undergo mutations, and we expect this to happen.  Although the variant is easier to transmit, there is currently no evidence that it is more severe.

“We are reminding people that all current guidance relating to Coronavirus continues to apply to the new variant, including advice relating to symptoms, social distancing, self-isolation, and vaccination.

“The new variant shows up as positive in Public Health Wales’ existing Coronavirus tests, and people must continue to seek a test in the usual way if they develop Coronavirus symptoms.”