Covid: Holyhead and Holy Island residents urged to get tests

Holyhead has more positive tests than the rest of Anglesey

People living in a town experiencing a Covid flare-up have been urged to get tested for the virus.

Anglesey council has already asked residents in Holyhead and Holy Island not to travel unless it was essential.

Now it wants everyone to take a test to cut the town's infection rate down, which is 466.5 cases per 100,000 people compared to the Wales average of 42.

In Holyhead there have been 50 cases in the past seven days. The whole of Anglesey has had 77 cases in total.

The council said mass testing was "a vital step to identify as many positive cases who will be unknowingly infectious and stopping the virus from spreading further".

Council leader Llinos Medi added: "The seriousness of the situation on Holy Island cannot be underestimated.

"The current data speaks for itself. This virus is spreading within the community and is a significant risk to people's health.

"It is vital that everyone who lives or works on Holy Island gets tested and more important than ever that we all stick to the rules to help protect our family, friends and the community."

• Covid hotspot town urged against weekend travel

Earlier this week she said schools in the town could be closed in a bid to curb infection rates.

Wales-wide restrictions have started to ease - on 13 March the nation's stay-at-home rules were lifted and replaced by a "stay local" message.

People are expected to stick to a five-mile travel rule, though there is flexibility for those in rural areas, but the rise in cases prompted to council to issue the no travel warning on Friday.

Ffion Johnstone, area director for the west of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: "By testing more people, including those without symptoms, we are able to find more positive cases of the virus and break chains of transmission."

Anglesey has the second highest case rate of infections in Wales with 114.2 cases per 100,000 people.

Only Merthyr Tydfil is ahead with a rate of 129.3 cases per 100,000, and on Saturday a new walk-in testing centre was opened on the Gurnos estate.

By comparison, the lowest case rates in Wales are seen in Ceredigion (11) Bridgend (17.7) and Monmouthshire (18).