OVER FIFTY new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across North Wales by health officials on Monday.

There have now been almost 33,340 lab-confirmed cases of the virus identified from the combined counties since the outbreak of the pandemic - after more cases were confirmed by Public Health Wales (PHW) in the latest figures released on March 8.

PHW confirmed that 52 of the latest 164 Welsh cases (31 per cent) came from the northern region.

They can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – Five (7.1 per 100,000 population)

• Conwy – 10 (8.5 per 100,000 population)

• Denbighshire – Two (2.1 per 100,000 population)

• Flintshire – 10 (6.4 per 100,000 population)

• Gwynedd – 12 (9.6 per 100,000 population)

• Wrexham – 13 (9.6 per 100,000 population)

BCUHB stats:

• Total confirmed COVID-19 cases from North Wales as of March 8 – 33,339

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported 901 people have sadly died since the start of the pandemic, according to PHW data.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics, which are considered a stronger indicator of the overall impact of the virus, and which are based on all deaths where COVID is mentioned on the death certificate, stand at 1,280 for the health board area.

The national picture:

Across Wales, another 164 COVID cases were confirmed in the latest figures, meaning that 205,202 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

Monday saw no newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus remains at 5,403 in Wales.

This is what Public Health Wales' has to say:

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Today, [Monday] the Public Health Wales COVID-19 dashboard will be reporting zero deaths for the first time since early September.

"While this is encouraging news, it should be noted that there is often a lag in reporting deaths following the weekend. In addition, the dashboard is designed to be a rapid reporting tool which is subject to ongoing reconciliation. Official data are provided by the Office for National Statistics.

“The weekly incidence of COVID-19 infections is now below 50 cases per 100,000 population in more than half of the local authorities in Wales, with the overall rate at 44.6 cases per 100,000.

“This does vary between local authority areas and therefore we remind the public that Level 4 restrictions are still in place."

Dr Shankar reminded the public that they should continue to stay at home and work from home if they could. He stressed the importance of wearing a face covering where required, along with basic principles of washing your hands regularly and staying two metres from anyone you do not live with.

He continued: “We remind everyone that four people from two different households are now able to meet outdoors for socially distanced local exercise. However, please remember this is solely for the purpose of exercise and that individuals should remain at a social distance, and that this guidance doesn’t apply to private gardens.

“Coronavirus cases by variant in Wales are reported on the UK Government website. The dominant strain in Wales is the Kent variant, and there is currently no evidence of widespread community transmission of other Variants of Concern in Wales.