ALMOST 110 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across our region by Public Health Wales (PHW) today.

There have now been 8,228 lab-confirmed cases of the virus from the combined counties that make up the North Wales region since the outbreak of the pandemic - after more incidents were confirmed in the latest figures released today.

Public Health Wales confirmed that the 109 of today’s 962 newly confirmed Welsh cases were from the northern region and can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – Seven (10.0 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Conwy – 18 (15.4 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Denbighshire – 10 (10.4 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Flintshire – 15 (9.6 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Gwynedd – 19 (15.3 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Wrexham – 40 (29.4 per 100,000 population as of today)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported one new deaths to date according to PHW data, recording 436 people that have sadly died.

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 581 for the health board area.

BCUHB stats:

• Confirmed cases as of October 21 – 8,228

• New cases from October 21 – 109

• Rate of new cases per 100,000 last week (October 12 to 18) – Anglesey (82.8), Conwy (110.1), Denbighshire (135.8), Flintshire (137.1), Gwynedd (73.1), Wrexham (139.4)

The national picture:

Across Wales, another 962 COVID cases were confirmed in Wednesday’s figures, meaning that 38,361 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There were 14 newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus sadly stands at 1,736 in Wales.

Welsh Government recently announced on Monday that a two-week fire-break lockdown would be coming into force across Wales on Friday, October 23, to combat the spread of the virus further and prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed.

This is what Public Health Wales' has to say:

Dr Robin Howe, incident director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “NHS Wales is still here to help you if you need care, and it’s important you continue to attend appointments and seek help for urgent medical issues.

"You can leave your home to access local health services, including your GP surgery, dentist, optometrist or other health service. You should phone beforehand and follow any guidance your local surgery, dentist, optometrist or health service has put in place to protect you and staff, including the need to keep 2m away from other patients.

“Public Health Wales supports last Monday’s announcement by the Welsh Government of a two-week national ‘fire-break’ to disrupt the transmission of Coronavirus in Wales. These new restrictions will come into effect at 6pm on Friday 23 October, and will last until the start of Monday 9 November.

“Cases continue to rise in Wales, hospital admissions are increasing, including those into critical care, and sadly so are the numbers of people dying from the virus.

“Although national and local measures have made a difference, further action is now needed. These new rules are vital to regain control of the virus, to protect the NHS, and save lives."