Coronavirus: North Wales not a hotspot say officials

An extended peak of coronavirus cases across north Wales could be down to greater testing, say health officials.

Figures on the virus show it seemed to have peaked in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area on 20 May - later than other parts of Wales.

It led to claims from Welsh Conservative MPs that the region was a worrying "outlier" for the virus.

But Public Health Wales (PHW) has gone on the record to deny the area is a hotspot for Covid-19.

Dr James Davies, the Tory MP for the Vale of Clwyd, said the health board reported the highest number of cases per head in Wales last week.

But Dr Giri Shankar, from PHW, said it did not "not necessarily mean that there is a higher level of increased community infection".

"When you calculate the rates per 100,000 population, or the mortality data per head of population, what we see in north Wales is rates comparable to other health boards, or comparable or slightly below the Welsh average," he said.

Dr Shankar, who is professional lead consultant for health protection, said higher number of tests are being carried out in care homes and with key workers, both those with Covid-19 symptoms and those without.

"We would like to say that there are higher cases recently, but that does not necessarily translate to higher rates of infection when compared to other parts of Wales," he said.

"The rates there are comparable to elsewhere in Wales. It is important to remember that social distancing measures and other precautions around personal hygiene, infection prevention and control, still remains the mainstay of intervention."

The comments echo those from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton.

He used his appearance at Thursday's daily briefing to dismiss claims also made by Welsh Secretary Simon Hart labelling infection rates in north Wales as an "uncomfortable outlier".

Dr Atherton added: "When I look at the hospital admissions in north Wales and the deaths from coronavirus, I see the same picture as I see in other health boards which is one of declining incidents, so things are improving across Wales."