THE North Wales Contact Tracing service is recruiting.

Residents are being urged to join the team to help keep Covid-19 transmission rates down.

A spokesperson for the service said: "We will all be concerned to see the significant increases in Covid-19 infection rates over recent weeks and the spectre of the new variant of the virus.

"The roll out of the second vaccine has given us hope and a glimpse of light through the trees, but we are not out of the woods yet.

"Contact tracing is a tried and tested method of controlling the spread of infectious diseases and it will continue to be a critical tool in our fight against the virus for some months to come.

"It has been a very busy Christmas and New Year period for our Test Trace Protect team and they have been working hard to keep people safe and limit the spread of Covid-19.

"We need people to join our teams of contact tracers and advisors, to make contact with residents across Wales who have tested positive for Covid-19 and the people they have been in contact with.

Figures released by Public Health Wales reveal that as of January 6, there were a total of 435 new cases confirmed across North Wales covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), taking the overall total up to 21,432.

Conwy saw 25 new confirmed cases, with 36 in Anglesey, 42 in Denbighshire, and 19 in Gwynedd.

Dr Robin Howe, incident director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “The number of positive Coronavirus cases remains extremely high in Wales and is cause for serious concern.

“Today we are reporting our highest number of deaths through the course of the pandemic. It should be noted that not all of these deaths occurred during the same 24 hour period but it does show the severity of the situation and acts as a reminder to everyone how important it is to stick to the rules to prevent transmission of the virus."

Visit www.flintshire.gov.uk/NWCTS for more or apply at www.flintshire.gov.uk/jobs