Covid-19: One death during past week in Wales

The one Covid death occurred in Wrexham

There was one death involving Covid registered in Wales in the week ending 25 June, according to the Office for National Statistics.

It was a person who died in hospital in Wrexham.

This compared to no deaths at all in the previous week, which was the first time during the pandemic.

Covid deaths remain very low in Wales - with four deaths involving Covid registered in the past four weeks.

There have been no deaths in four health board areas in the past month - Cardiff and Vale, Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Hywel Dda and Swansea Bay.

What about 'excess deaths'?

So-called excess deaths, which compare all registered deaths from all causes with previous years, have been below average for 15 of the past 17 weeks. There were 10 deaths below the five-year average in the latest week.

Looking at the number of deaths we would normally expect to see at this point in a typical year is seen as a reliable measure of the pandemic.

The number of deaths from all causes in Wales fell to 563 in the week ending 25 June, with 0.2% mentioning Covid on the death certificate.

Deaths were above average in both Scotland and Northern Ireland in the same week.

When looking across the course of the pandemic so far, there have been 48,277 deaths from all causes in Wales, with 7,900 (16.4%) mentioning Covid-19 on the death certificate. This was 4,896 deaths above the five-year average.

In about 83% of Covid deaths last year, it was the underlying cause and no other pre-existing conditions were mentioned on the death certificate.

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The second wave brought a peak in early January, but the third wave so far has brought very low numbers of deaths.

Public Health Wales on Tuesday reported a death in Cwm Taf Morgannwg on Saturday, taking the total in the last week to three.

These deaths will be included in future ONS figures, once registered.

What else have we learned on Tuesday?

Hospital admissions remain low

There has still not been a jump in Covid hospital admissions, which remain close to last week's lows.

We can see how case rises in the third wave have still not translated into hospital numbers.

However, the daily figure for people with confirmed Covid tests in hospital beds on Monday had risen to 56 - the highest since April.

Numbers of people with Covid in critical care were also up to eight.

At the moment, the daily average of combined confirmed, suspected and recovering Covid patients in hospital remains close to its lowest point.

Case clusters still in north Wales and Cardiff

The Wales case rate has reached 103.2 cases per 100,000 - the first time it has been in three figures since early February. But with the easing of restrictions across the UK, cases are rising everywhere and the rate in Wales is still less than all other UK nations and English regions.

Wrexham - which has its highest incidence cluster in Rhos and Johnstown - has the highest in Wales but is the 127th highest in the UK. Ceredigion is the lowest in the mainland UK, among five Welsh local authorities in the lowest 20 in the UK.

Young people under 30 still make up 60% of all positive tests, with a shift in the age profile in recent weeks thanks to the vaccination programme.

Second doses make up 90% of vaccinations

United Arab Emirates (74%) has now overtaken Wales (71.9%) as top ranking sizeable country for giving first doses. Wales is sixth in the world for second doses.

There were 114,365 doses given out in the past seven days - 90% were second doses. This is about 10,000 doses down on the week before.

The proportion of the population vaccinated stands at nearly 72%, while 55.4% of people have had second doses.

First Covid care home deaths notified since March

Separate figures out from Care Inspectorate Wales show, in the past two weeks, there have been two reported deaths of care home residents relating to suspected or confirmed Covid, having had no notifications between 26 March and 22 June.

It said there were 20 care homes which have reported cases involving staff or residents in the past week, an increase since the start of June, although numbers are still relatively low.