JUST over 60 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across our region by Public Health Wales (PHW) today.

There have now been 12,218 lab-confirmed cases of the virus from the combined counties that make up the North Wales region since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Public Health Wales confirmed that 62 of today’s 595 newly confirmed Welsh cases were from the northern region and can be broken down as such:

• Anglesey – Zero (0 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Conwy – One (0.9 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Denbighshire – 13 (13.6 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Flintshire – 21 (13.5 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Gwynedd – Three (2.4 per 100,000 population as of today)

• Wrexham – 24 (17.7 per 100,000 population as of today)

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – the largest health board in Wales – has reported 511 people have sadly died to date 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 627 for the health board area.

BCUHB stats:

• Confirmed cases as of November 24 – 12,218

• New cases from November 24 – 62

• Rate of new cases per 100,000 last week (November 16 to 24) – Anglesey (25.7), Conwy (25.6), Denbighshire (82.6), Flintshire (132.6), Gwynedd (23.3), Wrexham (144.9)

The national picture:

Across Wales, another 595 COVID cases were confirmed in Tuesday's figures, meaning that 73,828 people are now known to have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

There were 21 newly reported deaths, meaning the number of people to have died with confirmed cases of coronavirus sadly stands at 2,406 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: “Public Health Wales strongly advises the public to take personal responsibility for their actions and to ensure that we are all doing as much as possible to limit the transmission of coronavirus.

“We would remind everyone that coronavirus is still active in our communities, and therefore this does not mean a return to normality.

“We ask the public to observe the new regulations and to limit their contact with other people as much as possible so that we all work together to bring the numbers of positive cases down.

“This means staying out of other people’s homes, limiting the times and the numbers of people that you meet, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene, working from home if you can, and self-isolating if you show symptoms of coronavirus or are asked to do so by contact tracers.

“All of these actions will help to break the chains of transmission, reduce the spread of the virus, and keep people safe.

“We understand that people will want to carry on with their Christmas shopping now the fire-break has ended. We would suggest to try to visit shops during off-peak times, to always maintain social distancing and to wear a face covering if you can. Options such as ‘click and collect’ or online purchasing may also be something to consider."