Nine more people have died in Wales after testing positive for coronavirus

The number of people who died in Wales after testing positive for a coronavirus reached 584 after nine more deaths were confirmed on Monday.

Public Health Wales added that an additional 276 people were confirmed to test positive for Covid-19 to take the grand total since the outbreak began at 7,546.

However, the actual number is likely to be much higher, as only patients in hospitals and front-line healthcare workers are currently being evaluated.

Dr Giri Shankar, incident manager for the new coronavirus outbreak response (Covid-19) at Public Health Wales, said: “Based on the new case numbers, there is emerging evidence suggesting a leveling in the number of new cases of new coronaviruses (Covid-19) in Wales, which may be an indication of the effectiveness of blocking measures.

“However, it is still too early to know for sure and it is too early to end the current rules of social distancing.”

“Public Health Wales continues to fully support the extension of the blocking measures, which is essential to avoid reversing the achievements we have made in halting the spread of this virus, protecting our NHS and saving lives.”

The announcement comes after a press conference with Prime Minister Mark Drakeford, who gave an update on how Wales is addressing the outbreak.

Last week, Drakeford said there were signs that Covid-19 cases in hospitals were stabilizing and that new admissions were starting to drop. Encouragingly, he confirmed that this pattern continued on Saturday and into Sunday.

“We can build more confidence that the measures we are all taking continue to save lives,” he said.

He added that despite the good weather over the weekend, police forces reported that the public was adhering to the blocking restrictions “at a high level.”

Meanwhile, after a quick review of the evidence, the Prime Minister said he expected measures to be implemented this week.

“We had a meeting this morning involving the military and the Welsh Care Forum and others to turn the recommendations of the review into action on the ground,” he said.

“We have focused on how we can simplify the path from the person who needs the test to the test.”

“At the end of last week we had evidence available that was not being taken and that was due in part to the complexity of the system. We are using military planners to simplify that system as best we can.”

Drakeford admitted that Wales will not reach 5,000 tests a day he expected in mid-April. Currently, around 1,300 tests are performed per day. He added that a new test target will not be set in the future.

He added: “We will report each week on the number of tests available on the NHS in Wales on a daily basis, the numbers being taken and plans to increase that number in the coming week.”

Drakeford said some of the reasons for not reaching the 5,000 mark were beyond Welsh control.

“We trust the equipment that comes to Wales from abroad. We trust some chemical reagents that arrive in Wales from abroad. Those deliveries have not reached the time scale we expected,” he said.

Drakeford said he would attend a “virtual ceremony” the Monday before the official opening of the Dragon Heart Hospital at the Principality Stadium.

It will be the UK’s largest field hospital outside London. He praised the “remarkable” efforts of the NHS and others to build it in such a short time.

“In just a few weeks, we have doubled the number of critical care beds and are on track to increase the available bed stock from the usual 10,000 to 17,000,” he added.

Parts of the £ 350 million Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran were to be opened to help combat the Covid-19 outbreak.

But the Aneuin Bevan University Health Board put them on hold as current capacity in hospitals is considered capable of managing them.

“It is a sign of success as the current system is coping,” said Drakeford.

The Prime Minister said that when the restrictions are lifted or eased, a community monitoring and testing system will be necessary.

He said there is a high probability that people will need to be recruited to do the detect, trace and isolate job, adding that college students could play a role in this.

“As we begin to lift the blockade, no matter how carefully and cautiously we do so, it is inevitable that the circulation of the virus in the community will grow in some places,” he added.

“What we need is community testing and surveillance that allows us to quickly detect those outbreaks and quickly control them through contact tracing and isolation of people who have the virus.”

The Welsh government announced on Sunday a three-month package of additional support worth up to £ 6.3 million for hospices in Wales.

The financing will allow them to continue providing their vital services even in the absence of fundraising activities.

It comes from the £ 1.1 billion fight fund created by the Welsh Government to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Similarly, Drakeford said that due to high demand within 72 hours of launch, the Government of Wales Economic Resilience Fund has released another £ 100 million for companies.

More than 6,000 grant applications were received from small and medium-sized businesses and social enterprises within 24 hours of launch on Friday.

He said: “In total, we have made almost 2 billion support available to small businesses and charities here in Wales to support them in these incredibly difficult times.”