Hospital coronavirus transmission a concern

The figure was revealed in a press conference this afternoon by where HS Wales chief executive Dr Andrew Goodall.

Saying he “regrets every case of acquired coronavirus”, Dr Goodall said: “It can rapidly and easily enter a closed setting and as it is such an infectious virus, it can be passed through all settings.”

He said that last week, there were 192 cases of coronavirus which "probably" or "definitely" were transmitted in hospital - and added this was not the result of a failure on the part of the hospitals themselves.

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“The numbers, at three per cent, are smaller than people expected but enough of a concern at this stage to make sure we are targeting actions," he said. "The virus requires a 100 per cent compliance, 100 per cent of the time to keep it at bay.”

He explained how health workers are trying to combat the spread in hospitals by taking Public Health Wales advice, creating segregated areas, cubicles and enhanced use of PPE among other measures.

Along with this, he has said that there is a need to emphasis how everyone can make a contribution in terms of following the rules, including hand hygiene and social distancing to help lower the community transmission, which in turn could lower the spread of hospital transmission.

Currently, there are around 90 people with coronavirus admitted to hospital each day in Wales and six per cent of hospital admissions have coronavirus on admission.