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A mine in the Neath Valley will temporarily close following a cluster of positive coronavirus cases.
The Neath Port Talbot Council’s contact tracing service, in collaboration with Public Health Wales, the Health and Safety Executive and the Swansea Bay University Health Board, yesterday agreed to the voluntary closure of the Aberpergwm mine with the operator Energybuild Ltd.
Executive Director of Public Health for the Swansea Bay Area, Dr. Keith Reid, said: “The high rate of positive test results among Aberpergwm mine personnel indicates a clear need for the immediate suspension of operations at the place.
“It is essential that we reduce the opportunity for the virus to spread further and will work with our partners to gain a clear understanding of the reasons behind the cluster of mine-related cases.”
Elsewhere, thirteen people have died of coronavirus at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, where 94 cases have been linked to a Covid-19 outbreak.
The planned surgeries have already been suspended at the hospital and its board of health has decided to open a field hospital next week to relocate patients who do not have Covid.
Emergency admissions, with the exception of children and patients from the Wales Ambulance Service, are being diverted to other hospitals.
Self-contained pediatric wards at Royal Glamorgan Hospital remain open, along with mental health services.
On Friday, the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Board of Health announced that the reopening of Tirion’s birthing center at the hospital, scheduled for October 5, had been delayed.
Most of the population of Wales remains closed, including: Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham, Cardiff, Swansea, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly borough, Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Newport, Neath Port Talbot, the Vale of Glamorgan and Torfaen.
The restrictions affect 2.35 million people.
Blaenau Gwent continues to have the highest rate of infections in Wales with 246.2 positive cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days, followed by Merthyr Tydfil with 208.9 cases per 100,000.
Wales’ average per 100,000 residents is now 75.7, according to the Public Health Wales update on Thursday 1 October.
It comes as six more people were confirmed dead after testing positive for Covid-19 in Wales, the most reported in a single day since July 2.
The number of people in hospital beds with coronavirus has also doubled in the last week. There are now 34 people in ICU beds in Wales with confirmed or suspected Covid-19.
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