As previously noted Alert Level O remains in place throughout Wales and that:

 vaccination is the main way out of this current wave of infection (including for 12 to 15 year olds and a booster programme for the over 50 year olds, which has now started)

•  people should continue to work from home where possible
• people should continue to work from home where possible
• Covid [vaccination] Passes will be compulsory from mid October for entrance to nightclubs, indoor events of over 500 people, outdoor seated events of over 4,000 people and any outdoor event, like a rugby match, of over 10,000 people

SCHOOLS

 All schools continue to follow operational guidance from Welsh Government. The focus of the guidance is to enable schools to operate as ‘business as usual’ as far as possible.

The core measures that remain in place are:

• Follow self-isolation guidance
• Don’t attend school if you have symptoms
• Hand and respiratory hygiene
• Ventilation

The current impact of the virus on schooling is shown below:-

Pupils who are currently off school due to a positive Covid 19 test: 269

Daily average of around 30 new cases

Staff who are currently off work due to a positive Covid 19 test: 29

There are positive cases in 47 schools across the County Borough.

Schools are managing the situation in partnership with Test Trace & Protect Services.  For those schools with multiple cases this can impact on overall attendance rates as parents choose to keep their pupils off school.

Comment

• 100 new cases were reported in Wrexham today.
• The latest 7-day rate for new cases is 4/100,000 population. This is slightly better than the 431/100k reported on Tuesday, but that was the highest rate reported during ‘Wave 3’.
• The only silver lining is that positivity (the indicator of community transmission) is 7%, down from 17.1% two weeks ago and 18.8% four weeks ago. Also, despite these high numbers, Wrexham is 22^nd in Wales for cases per 100k population, compared to 17^th two weeks ago and 20^th for positivity, compared to 9^th two weeks ago; rates of infection having grown much more quickly elsewhere in Wales.
• The Delta variant accounts for 100% of cases, with community transmission in households, then schools, then social contacts and finally work contacts being the driver of infection.
• The highest rates of infection are amongst the 20-29 age group, followed by the under 20s. This is because they are the least vaccinated and are having the most social contact.
• Hospital admissions and deaths are, sadly, in double figures, but remain low compared to Waves 1 and 2 – supporting the view that the vaccine is highly effective against the Delta variant. In fact, there is a very much higher chance of being admitted to hospital if a person has not been vaccinated.
• These data show that the virus has definitely not gone away. However, Wave 3 has not been as severe as Wave 2, which peaked in January.
• There is considerable uncertainty about whether cases will continue to rise, what with schools and colleges now open, the efficacy of the vaccine possibly waning and people ‘voting with their feet’ and no longer observing the restrictions that remain in pace (such as face coverings inside buildings).
• The First Minister is expected to issue advice for the autumn and winter in his next 3-week review.

Comment

• All of the 18 sub-areas of Wrexham remain ‘hotspots’ with more than 100 cases/100,000 population, which has been the case for several months. This confirms that there is widespread community transmission throughout the County Borough rather than clusters of cases in specific areas.
• 10 of the sub-areas have more than 400/100k, whereas 7 had two weeks ago and 5 four weeks ago.
• 12 of the sub-areas have seen an improvement since two weeks ago, meaning that 6 have got worse. This compares to 5 and 13, respectively, two weeks ago.

KEY MESSAGES

The delta variant remains a challenge within our communities and vaccination of all eligible adults & children remains vital. When you are called for a booster please attend.

Vaccination has been proven to reduce admissions to hospital and aids us to recover from the worst effects of Covid.