Coronavirus: Cardiff socialising 'behind Covid-19 case rise'

Cardiff city centre at the end of July

More people out socialising in Cardiff is believed to be behind a rise in coronavirus cases in the capital.

There have been 47 positive tests in the last week - which is 37% of all cases in Wales.

Public health officials said many of the new cases were among people between the ages of 20 and 30.

But the infection rate is still well below some areas in northern England and the Midlands, which have seen local measures introduced.

Fiona Kinghorn, director of public health at Cardiff and Vale health board, said they did not have a particular source in mind for the new cases, but they were believed to be more to do with people moving around between workplaces and social establishments.

"We've experienced a small number of clusters - that's led to a rise in the number of cases in Cardiff," she said.

She said it was not a spike but a small rise - and a sign that people were not following social distancing rules and hand-washing.

"I think it's a result of people being out and about and in work places as well, we're not seeing people sticking to the rules," Ms Kinghorn said.

She said if people were not able to work from home it was important they followed advice.

The current infection rate in Cardiff is 12.8 cases per 100,000 over the last week. Only three new cases were reported on Monday, fewer than over previous days.

But local interventions, including some lockdowns, have only been introduced in areas of England when weekly infections have reached 70 to 90 cases per 100,000.

Birmingham was recently put on a "watch" list by Public Health England, with 31 cases per 100,000, but with problems confined to particular neighbourhoods.

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Public Health Wales (PHW) said no outbreak had been declared and it was monitoring a number of small clusters.

"As we move through the recovery phase of the Coronavirus pandemic, we expect to see clusters in different settings," said a spokesman. 

"We manage any clusters of Coronavirus appropriately, including by providing advice around infection prevention and control, and by supporting contact tracing where required."

PHW incident director Dr Robin Howe said: "I think it is a concern that we are seeing an increase in cases, and they are particularly localised around Cardiff.

"It is good that we are identifying them and the Test Trace Protect scheme is kicking in and bringing those cases under control and making sure that all contacts are identified and isolated."

The coronavirus incident director said deaths "usually" reflected what was going on a few weeks previously in the pandemic.

What was important, he said, was that the number of cases was kept under control.

"Deaths usually reflect what is going on a number of weeks ago in terms the pandemic, and there is likely to be a small tail of cases, happening over the next few days and weeks," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"We just need to ensure we keep the cases under control and it should mean that we don't have further deaths."

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The latest figures show three deaths reported in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area - one on Saturday and two more last Thursday.

Overall in Wales, there have been 127 Covid-19 cases over the last week - a case rate of four per 100,000.

Dr Howe added: "Just because we are able to go to shops and pubs, and people are increasingly going back to work, we still need to be vigilant and observe the social distancing of two metres wherever possible."

Other hygiene measures, such as hand washing, also needed to be adhered to, he added.