Coronavirus deaths in Welsh care homes beginning to fall, ONS figures show
Care home deaths in Wales due to coronavirus have fallen for the first time, ONS figures show.
55 deaths were registered in Welsh care homes in the week ending May 1. The total number of deaths in care homes now stands at 404.
The number of deaths in hospitals is also continuing to fall for the second consecutive week according to the figures.
For the week ending May 1 there were 166 deaths, down from 260 the previous week.
The ONS figures also show the total number of deaths in Wales due to coronavirus up to May 1 was 1,641.
This number is higher than Public Health Wales' figures for the same time period which recorded 998 deaths.
Analysis from our Health Reporter James Crichton-Smith
The latest data from the office for national statistics appears to show a glimmer of good news for Wales.
While it's clear that, tragically, many people are losing their lives to Covid-19, there seems to be a downward trend emerging. There is a suggestion - further reinforcing what government and scientific officials have been saying - that Wales is past the peak of first wave of the virus.
Care homes have seen their first drop in the number of deaths from Covid-19 since the first death from it in the week ending March 27th. The latest statistics also show the second consecutive week where hospitals have seen a fall in coronavirus deaths. This would appear to indicate that care homes are lagging slightly behind hospitals in how the pandemic has developed here.
But while the latest numbers can be interpreted as encouraging, don't expect there to be any further changes to lockdown measures any time soon. Expect ministers and medical experts to talk about being extremely cautious when looking at the statistics and urging people not to deviate from the message in Wales, which remains to stay home. There is still huge concern that if people don't stick to the rules, then the virus could begin to spread widely again, and create a second surge in cases.