THERE are no plans currently for regional mass testing programmes - such as the ones in Merthyr Tydfil and Lower Cynon Valley - to be introduced in Wales' worst hit areas, Vaughan Gething has said.
The health minister said that significantly lower numbers of people are getting tested now than in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and increasing the number of people taking up tests when they are showing symptoms is now the Welsh Government's priority over increasing testing capacity or setting up regional mass testing programmes.
In the latest Public Health Wales figures, 12,974 tests were carried out in Wales since the previous release - with 1,898 new cases being recorded.
READ MORE:
- Vaccine doses available in Wales should step up in February, says health minister
- Wales begins roll-out of second coronavirus vaccine today.
- January lockdown likely to continue across Wales, says First Minister.
"We've got a significant mass testing programme, and actually the challenge isn't about increasing our testing infrastructure, it's about getting people to use the tests we have available," said Mr Gething.
"In the run up to Christmas, we saw a significant number of people getting themselves tested - I think it's easy to understand why.
"We were seeing very high case rates across the majority of the country - in particular the southern belt and the western belt of the country - we also know that there were some people who were particularly concerned about getting symptoms checked before Christmas. All those things lead to very, very high numbers of people getting tested.
"We've now seen a significant reduction compared to the number of people getting tested. I think on today's figures 11,000 or 12,000 people that got tested; on other days we had nearly double that number of people getting tested before Christmas, so there's plenty of capacity within our system."
Mr Gething shared data showing the seven day case rates per 100,000 population in Wales, which showed a significant drop off since the Christmas period, although the health minister cautioned there may be other reasons for this sharp decline.
The seven day case rates per 100,000 population in Wales. Picture: Welsh Government.
"Rates have fallen back from the incredibly high levels we were seeing just before Christmas," he said. "The overall incidence rate for Wales has fallen from a high of 636 cases per 100,000 people on December 17 to 446 cases today. Now this is still far too high.
"It's too early to know if these falls are because of the Christmas period and fewer people coming forward for testing or if they are purely positive signs of a sustained slowing in this awful virus.
"We continue to be cautious though because while the number of people being tested has fallen, testing positivity rate remains very high at 25 per cent across Wales."
Mr Gething encouraged people in Wales to get tested "as soon as you have symptoms."
"Our scientific advisors and public health experts regularly tell us self-isolation is very important and highly effective to reducing the spread of the virus," he said.
"So get tested early, follow the advice, and self-isolate immediately on having symptoms."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here