New cases of COVID-19 reached 76 during the past day in Wales according to the latest from Public Health Wales.

Out of these 43 were from the North Wales Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board Region with 29 from Conwy and Denbighshire combined. Just under 70% of new cases in Wales came from either Conwy or Denbighshire counties.

Across Wales there have been 4 new deaths - a total now of 1,383 fatalities.

However, a change in reporting methodology may have impacted on the daily figures.

Dr Robin Howe, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said:

“Today, our data dashboard will be updated to include the number of deaths reported in Wales by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

“This data is different to the information we already publish because it shows deaths by area of residence, and not by hospital location. This addresses the current under-reporting of deaths in areas where there are no acute hospitals. The ONS data does not require a positive test result for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) to be the registered cause of death, but is based on information provided in the death certificate where in some cases the certifying doctor suspected the death involved Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) but was not certain, for example, because no test was done.

“Because this data is reported weekly by the ONS, it will be updated on our dashboard on a weekly basis on Fridays. Today’s update will be to the week ending 22nd May. Figures may differ slightly between those published by Public Health Wales due to different methodologies.

“Public Health Wales welcomes increased testing resulting from Welsh participation in the UK-wide system.

“From Thursday 4 June, Public Health Wales is reporting the number of tests for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) undertaken on Welsh residents in Non-NHS Wales laboratories.

“These laboratories were established to support NHS laboratories in increasing COVID-19 testing capacity e.g. UK Lighthouse laboratories. They are currently receiving samples from a number of testing sites, such as the COVID-19 drive-through testing centres in England and from home testing kits.

“Whilst we have prioritised publishing national level figures from this dataset, we are currently working through data issues with NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) and Welsh Government and plan to publish at Health Board and Local Authority level. We expect these testing figures to increase as additional home and community testing increases amongst Welsh residents over the next few weeks.

“Public Health Wales is currently undertaking work to review this data and determine how this links with our existing data from tests undertaken in NHS laboratories in Wales. Whilst this work is ongoing, these figures have not been incorporated into any other outputs including the headline number of cases.

“Contact tracing continues in Wales as part of the Welsh Government’s ‘Test, Trace, Protect’ strategy. Contact tracing is the process of identifying people who have come in contact with an individual with Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in order to prevent the risk of others spreading the infection in our communities.

“Anyone who has a positive Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) test will be contacted by a team of contact tracers, and asked for details of everyone they have had close contact with while they have had symptoms.

“Please keep a note of your activities so you can easily remember your whereabouts on a given day, along with who were in contact with. You do not need to have any concerns about providing names to the tracing team. This is for everyone’s benefit and we are grateful for your continued cooperation.

“If you are asked to self-isolate, you should also comply with this request to prevent further spread of the virus.

“Tracers are trained staff and personal information that you provide will handled in line with data protection regulations and will not be shared widely.

“Over the last few weeks, Public Health Wales has been setting up the methods and guidance for how contact tracing will operate. We will continue to work closely to support local health boards and local authorities in delivering contact tracing.

“The Welsh Government’s revised lockdown arrangements also continue. People from two different households in the same local area can meet up outdoors, provided they continue to maintain social distancing and strict hand hygiene.

“The announcement adds that, as a general rule, people should not travel more than five miles from home. This will help to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading as people begin to travel more.

“Revised lockdown arrangements also apply to people in Wales who have been told to ‘shield’ from the virus. They are able to go outside and meet people from another household, provided they keep a two-metre distance.

“Future relaxation of lockdown measures will also be dependent on everyone following advice set out in the ‘Test, Trace, Protect’ strategy, including self-isolating when required.

“Information about the symptoms of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) to look out for is available on the Public Health Wales website, or members of the public can use the NHS Wales symptom checker."