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Rhondda residents have raised concerns about the coronavirus as the county returns to lockdown
There is a “high risk” that an increase in covid cases will lead to more hospital admissions and deaths in closed areas of Wales, it was warned.
Dr Robin Howe of Public Health Wales said older people are being infected in Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT).
It comes as the people of Rhondda expressed frustration at becoming the second area in Wales to return to the blockade after Caerphilly.
The 240,000 people who live there will be subject to strict rules from 18:00 BST.
They will not be able to enter or leave the county without a reasonable excuse, such as traveling for work or education.
People will be prohibited from meeting inside with people outside their homes and pubs, bars and restaurants must close before 23:00.
Figures released Thursday reveal that more than half of all Covid-19 hospital admissions in Wales are in the health board area of Aneurin Bevan, which covers Caerphilly and Newport, and Cwm Taf Morgannwg, which covers RCT. .
“There is a high risk that with the level of cases in Caerphilly and RCT we will see an increase in hospital admissions,” Dr Howe told BBC Radio Wales.
“And now we are seeing that the older age groups are infected and obviously there is a sad risk that we could be seeing deaths.
“We would expect hospital admissions to go up around now and maybe we’re starting to see that at Cwm Taf Morgannwg’s board of health, and there may be deaths in the next few days.”
On Thursday, residents could be seen forming a long line in front of a new mobile testing center in Abercynon.
This follows an announcement on Wednesday from Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething, who promised up to five additional mobile test units for Covid-19 hotspots in Wales this week.
Frustration and confusion
Colin Edrop, owner of The Bear Inn, in Llantrisant, said of the local closure: “It doesn’t surprise me, but it’s frustrating because Llantrisant has been safe enough recently and other areas in RCT have made things worse.
“Closing at 11 doesn’t make a difference in my opinion, if people are going to get drunk they will do it anyway.
“I’d rather have the pubs be asked to close for two or three weeks so we can sort this out.”
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Mr Edrop said he would be “happy to close if asked” but added: “We need to make money so I will stay open with strict security measures.”
“We are definitely not seeing youth groups in our local area, we are certainly not seeing that – luckily we have a much larger crowd.”
“But maintaining social distancing is a nightmare, people have forgotten about social distancing.”
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The blockade will be reviewed by the Government of Wales in two weeks.
Victoria Vaughan, a mother of two from Pontypridd, said she thought the move was “too little too late.”
“I’m not surprised that a local shutdown is coming as I think the orientation over the past few weeks has been too relaxed and people have been complacent,” he said.
“The guide is very unclear, there is confusion about what we can and cannot do, but at the moment it is still not strong enough in my opinion.”
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Residents may not enter or leave the county without a reasonable excuse.
Ms. Vaughan said it “didn’t make sense” that she couldn’t see the family but could go to the pub.
“The pubs should close, that’s where the problem is, the guide must be in black or white, at the moment it is gray,” he said.
“I trust my mother a lot to take care of the children, she lives in Cardiff. If we can’t see her it will have a negative impact on my ability to work from home.”
Teleri Jones, owner of The Old Library Cafe in Porth, welcomed the announcement despite being “bad news for business.”
He said he had noticed a change in people’s behavior recently: “People have been worrying, especially those with health problems.
“They had stayed away, then gradually we saw them come back. But last week was much calmer, and with all the talk on the news I can see that this week has been even calmer.”
Rhondda MP Chris Bryant said that some people who did not follow the Covid-19 guidelines had caused the increase.
He told BBC Radio Wales: “There must be some people who think they have some kind of magic invisibility cloak, which means that the virus will not touch them or anyone they know or love … and we have some people who They go into anarchy mode and decide that they are going to do whatever they want.
“If the UK government doesn’t take care of this testing problem, we will lose control of the virus … if we lose control, we will lose control of the NHS … as we head into winter, that could be very dangerous”.
Plaid Cymru Councilor for Ystrad, Elyn Stephens, said there was an “overwhelming sense of frustration with pubs remaining open.”
People have been forming a long queue at Abercynon’s new mobile test unit
He said some residents were now in their second lockdown after being flooded four times this year.
Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething said there had been a “rapid” increase in RCT cases, with 82.1 infections per 100,000 people in the past seven days.
The last equivalent figure in Wales was 21.4 per 100,000.
Wednesday’s positive test rate for the past week at RCT was 5.1%, the highest in Wales. Gething previously warned that a positive rate of 4% in Wales would trigger a national lockdown.
The average for Wales is 2.4%.
Wednesday’s figures showed that the RCT case rate nearly caught up with Caerphilly, which had 83.4 per 100,000 people in the past seven days.
The restrictions have been imposed despite people at RCT being asked to take extra precautions last week.
In two weeks a review of the confinement will take place.
