Four new coronavirus cases confirmed in Wales bringing total to 19

Four more people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 19.

One of the new cases, from the Caerphilly area, has no history of travel to a country where the virus is circulating and no known contact with another confirmed case.

The other three cases had recently returned to Wales from Northern Italy. Two are from Powys, while the third is from Swansea.

It comes as the coronavirus outbreak was labelled a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, said: “I can confirm that four additional individuals in Wales have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of positive cases in Wales to 19.

“All of the individuals are being managed in clinically appropriate settings. All appropriate measures to provide care for the individuals and to reduce the risk of transmission to others are being taken.

“We have always been clear that we expected the number of positive cases to increase, which is in line with what has happened in other parts of the world.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to assure the public that Wales and the whole of the UK is prepared for these types of incidents. Working with our partners in Wales and the UK, we have implemented our planned response, with robust infection control measures in place to protect the health of the public.”

Coronavirus COVID-19 swabs from patients are kept in a plastic sealed tub at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. Credit: PA

The UK as a whole has recorded its largest day-on-day increase in coronavirus cases as 456 people have tested positive for the virus.

It is a leap from 373 cases at the same point on Tuesday, the Department of Health said.

This is the largest day on day jump, with cases more than doubling in just four days.

Six people have died from the virus in the UK and the latest person to have died was a patient in their eighties, who had underlying health conditions.

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