Message to the people of Wales from the First Minister

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford has sent out the following message to the people of Wales.

Once again, I’m asking for your help to keep Wales safe.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken another significant turn.

Cases are very high in Wales and a new strain of the virus is spreading very quickly across the country. Our NHS is under real pressure.

We must all once again stay at home. I know this is will be a very difficult time for everyone.

But it’s more important than ever that we all follow the rules. We can’t stop now

It’s so important that we limit contact with other people to prevent this awful virus from spreading and protect ourselves and our families.

We all need to work from home if we can. 

If we have to leave home, we must keep our distance from others, wash our hands regularly and wear a face mask in indoor public places.

The vaccine is here and is being rolled out. It offers us the path out of this pandemic and there is real hope for the future.

There is a lot of hard work going on to set up more clinics and arrange appointments for people to come and have the vaccine at one of the mass vaccine centres or at GP clinic near you.

It will take time to vaccinate everyone. We must all play our part to keep ourselves, our families and our communities safe. 

The situation is serious and the whole of Wales is at alert level four. This means you must stay home.

By pulling together we can keep Wales safe. 

Thank you for everything you are doing.

More information about alert level four lockdown is at: https://gov.wales/alert-level-4 

Winter weather update Friday, January 8 at 4pm

Here is the latest situation in the county:

Roads: Snow showers will be less frequent throughout the afternoon and it will become drier this evening although there is still a risk of ice overnight into tomorrow morning.  All routes will be gritted at 4pm this afternoon and again tonight at 11pm with gritting crews remaining on duty overnight to patrol the network. Further gritting actions will be carried during the daytime tomorrow.

Bus services: Passengers are advised that were snowfall is forecast over the weekend some bus services may be disrupted, sometimes significantly, depending upon local conditions.

Waste collection: Any residual waste collections missed today (Friday, January 8) will be collected next week once conditions have improved. Customers are advised to put their bins out daily from Monday (January 11) from 7am until collection. This also applies to garden waste green bin collections.

Any food waste collections missed today will be collected on the next scheduled collection day, Friday, January 15.

The pop up recycling service in Llangollen on Saturday, January 9, has been cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions in the wider area. We ask that residents who booked online to re-book their slot any time from Monday, 18 January for the Saturday, 23 January event.  The Council will contact customers who booked through the contact centre to organise a new booking. We would like to thank residents for their understanding during this time

Previously reported:

Roads: All routes have been treated twice overnight and gritting teams are on duty and are patrolling all routes today.

We are experiencing some difficulties on the following routes across the network:

Road Closures:

Horseshoe Pass, Llangollen

All routes to Moel Famau

These roads remain open at present and are passable with care:

Nant y Garth Pass

Rhydtalog

Llandegla

Clwyd Gate (Ruthin-bound from Mold)

Bus services: Passengers attempting to use bus services are asked to plan for some disruption, owing to snowfall.

The X51 service between Denbigh and Wrexham is currently suspended south of Ruthin.

All services between Ruthin and Mold are currently using the A494 main road and are not diverting via villages.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

The 192 service Melin y Wig to Llangollen will not operate.

Schools: Ysgol Brynhyfryd, Ysgol Bro Famau, Ysgol Carreg Emlyn, Ysgol Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, Ysgol Tremeirchion, Ysgol Bodfari, Ysgol Pant Pastynog, Ysgol Betws Gwerful Goch, Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn and Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch are closed to children required to be on school premises. Online learning continues unaffected for all schools. For more information visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/education-and-schools/emergency-school-closures.aspx

Housing: The Council’s housing contact centre is still open but presently only responding to urgent and emergency calls.

County public toilets to close due to pandemic

Denbighshire County Council is informing residents it is closing all of its public conveniences from 4pm today, Friday, January 8.

The Council made the decision to close its public toilets to keep public convenience staff and residents safe during the current increase in coronavirus cases.

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets, said: “Due to the recent increase in Covid-19 cases in Denbighshire the decision has been made to close all public conveniences until the end of this current lockdown period.

“With the new variant of the virus being significantly more virulent, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep both staff and residents safe while using the facilities.

“We would like to thank residents for their understanding and the Public Convenience Team will use the closure period to carry out an extensive clean, and maintenance check of all 21 public convenience facilities throughout the authority, ensuring that they are ready and fit for use on re-opening at the end of the lockdown period.”

Welsh lockdown extended by a further three weeks

Lockdown measures in Wales will be strengthened as a new, highly infectious strain of coronavirus continues to circulate, the First Minister has said.

Speaking at the Welsh Government's daily press briefing, Mark Drakeford said the new strain has quickly taken a "firm foothold" in north Wales, where cases of the virus are rising quickly.

He added that the new strain is expected to become the dominant form of the virus in south Wales too.

It had already been confirmed that the level four lockdown restrictions introduced at midnight on December 19 will remain in place until at least January 29.

Today, Mark Drakeford told journalists that safety measures would be strengthened for shops, workplaces and schools.

Mr Drakeford told journalists: "We will be strengthening the alert level four measures in three main areas.

"First, we will work with our major supermarkets and retailers to make sure that people are safe when we go out shopping.

"I want to see at least the same level of protection today as was very visible in the early period of the pandemic.

"Those who work and shop in supermarkets need to be confident that the numbers in those stores are carefully and consistently controlled and that all other measures are in place to keep us all safe."

Mr Drakeford said he has received more correspondence on safety in shops than almost any other issue.

He there was some "anxiety" from the public that the visible protections in shops in the early days of the pandemic were, in some cases, no longer as apparent.

Although there is no evidence that the new strain causes a more serious illness, it is adding to the pressure on the Welsh NHS, the First Minister said.

He added: "Most young people will now be taught online until January 29. Unless there is a significant reduction in cases of coronavirus by the next review, this will continue until the February half term.

"Vulnerable learners and children of critical workers will continue to have face-to-face learning and childcare remains open.

"We will use the coming weeks to work with our scientists, unions and local authorities to plan for the future.

"This will not be a simple choice between closing schools and colleges now and reopening them in February."

He said the Welsh Government was looking at the "possibilities for a phased and safe return of some students during this period, such as those studying for qualifications, the youngest children who find distance learning the most difficult and vulnerable children."

Mr Drakeford told journalists:

• More than 2,700 coronavirus-related patients are being cared for in Welsh hospitals today

• There are now 143 people with coronavirus in critical care beds.

• The number of people in critical care has reached the highest point in the pandemic.

Ministers have just carried out a three-weekly review of the current restrictions. The next update will be on January 29.

Winter weather update from county council

Winter weather update Friday, January 8 at 10am:

Snow has fallen across much of Denbighshire overnight and is expected to continue throughout today. Here is the latest situation in the county.

Roads: All routes have been treated twice overnight and gritting teams are on duty and are patrolling all routes today.

We are experiencing some difficulties on the following routes across the network:

Road Closures:

Horseshoe Pass, Llangollen

All routes to Moel Famau

These roads remain open at present and are passable with care:

Nant y Garth Pass

Rhydtalog

Llandegla

Clwyd Gate (Ruthin-bound from Mold)

Bus services: Passengers attempting to use bus services this morning are asked to plan for some disruption, owing to snowfall.

The X51 service between Denbigh and Wrexham is currently suspended south of Ruthin.

All services between Ruthin and Mold are currently using the A494 main road and are not diverting via villages.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The 192 service Melin y Wig to Llangollen will not operate.

Waste Collection: Owing to the weather there will disruption to waste collection services in the south of the county. Further updates will be provided throughout the day.

Schools: Ysgol Bro Famau, Ysgol Carreg Emlyn, Ysgol Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, Ysgol Tremeirchion, Ysgol Bodfari, Ysgol Pant Pastynog, Ysgol Betws Gwerful Goch, Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn and Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch are closed to children required to be on school premises. Online learning continues unaffected for all schools.

Housing: The Council’s housing contact centre is still open but presently only responding to urgent and emergency calls.

Updates on coronavirus from Welsh Government

Latest coronavirus updates from the Welsh Government (dated yesterday) are: 

• Updated: Alert level four lockdown frequently asked questions: https://gov.wales/alert-level-4-frequently-asked-questions
• NHS activity and capacity statistics: https://gov.wales/nhs-activity-and-capacity-during-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic
• PPE statistics: https://gov.wales/personal-protective-equipment-items-issued
• Latest TTP figures: https://gov.wales/test-trace-protect-contact-tracing-coronavirus-covid-19
• Latest testing data: https://gov.wales/testing-data-coronavirus-covid-19  

 

Coronavirus in numbers

• The latest figures published by Public Health Wales today show there have been 1,718 newly reported cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 163,234 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Wales since the start of the pandemic.
• Very sadly, there were 63 deaths reported by Public Health Wales today. The total number of deaths reported by Public Health Wales is 3,801.
• These figures are updated daily at: https://public.tableau.com/profile/public.health.wales.health.protection#!/vizhome/RapidCOVID-19virology-Public/Headlinesummary

What to do if you have symptoms of coronavirus

• The symptoms of coronavirus are a high temperature, a new, continuous cough and a loss or change in smell or taste.
• If you have symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, you must self-isolate at home for 10 days from when your symptoms started.
• Guidance about self-isolating: https://gov.wales/self-isolation-stay-home-guidance-households-possible-coronavirus
• Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
• You should arrange to have a test to see if you have coronavirus once you are self-isolating. You can book a test at https://gov.wales/apply-coronavirus-covid-19-test
• You should continue to isolate while waiting for a test result.
• Got a question about what to do if you’ve got coronavirus? Visit https://gov.wales/self-isolation-stay-home-guidance-households-possible-coronavirus
   

Where to find the latest information

• Information about the new national measures in place in Wales is available at: https://gov.wales/alert-level-4

• Public Health Wales provides a daily update about the number of cases of coronavirus in Wales. It is available at: https://covid19-phwstatement.nhs.wales/
• Information about coronavirus is available on the Welsh Government’s website at https://gov.wales/coronavirus and https://llyw.cymru/coronafeirws
• Questions about Covid-19 vaccines? Visit: https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/immunisation-and-vaccines/covid-19-vaccination-information/
• Information about support for businesses is available at the Business Wales website https://businesswales.gov.wales/coronavirus-advice/
• The Welsh Government holds a regular media briefing about coronavirus. These are on-the-record, on-camera and supported by a BSL interpreter. These are held at 12.15pm and live-streamed on our @WelshGovernment Twitter channel.

Health board admits to delays in Llan Covid test results

* The testing centre which was set up on Market Street car park.

A health board admits there have been delays in returning results to some people who attended the Covid testing centre in Llangollen.

The Besto Cadwladr Health Board in partnership with Public Health Wales, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Denbighshire County Council, set up the centre on Market Street car park in mid-December and it eventually closed earlier this week before moving to Denbigh.

Bur a number of people have contacted llanblogger to complain of long delays in obtaining their test results.

One local woman was tested last Saturday along with her elderly mother as the result of contact with a suspected Covid case but by late yesterday still hadn’t received notification of the results. 

She therefore phoned the local GP practice and they obtained the results for her – both negative, thankfully.

In response, Debra Hickman, Acting Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board, said: “We are aware of some delays in returning results from recent tests carried out in Llangollen. 

"All outstanding test results should be returned as expected over the coming days.”