Wales Adds 11,468 New CCP Virus Cases in One Day Due to Backlog

And It's Going Back To Full Lockdown After Christmas

A man walks past empty bars wearing a face mask in Cardiff, Wales, on Oct. 23, 2020. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

Wales reported 11,468 new cases of CCP virus on Thursday, according to the latest update of Public Health Wales’ (PHW) surveillance dashboard.

The large influx of reported cases is due to a backlog of test results caused by a system upgrade that took place on Dec. 11.

“As Public Health Wales has indicated previously, the data delay over the weekend was part of essential maintenance for the wider Welsh NHS led by the NHS Wales Informatics Service,” PHW said on Thursday in a statement.

PHW clarified that the backlog has not delayed individuals from receiving their results, and that the contact tracing process has not been affected.

“Members of the public can be reassured that anyone who tests positive will be contacted by their local authority’s Test, Trace, Protect team in the usual way. There have been no errors in the Public Health Wales reporting,” PHW said.

PHW has warned the public on Dec. 11 about the planned maintenance on that day of the NHS Welsh Laboratory Information Management System (WLIMS) to allow for essential service upgrades to take place.

“This will affect our daily reporting of Coronavirus figures, and therefore there will be no release of daily figures on Sunday [Dec.13],” PHW said in a statement on Dec. 11.

“There will be a period of data reconciliation and validation that will affect our daily reporting figures for several days after this downtime.”

The statement also said PHW would make some changes to the way it publishes updates of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus figures to improve accuracy.

Due to the delay, only 530 cases were reported on Wednesday, which represents the period between 9 a.m. on Monday and 8:59 a.m. on Tuesday.

PHE said that Wednesday’s figure only included “a very small number of results from tests processed in the Lighthouse Laboratories and therefore represent a significant under-estimation of the true picture.”

Full Lockdown After Christmas

Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford said on Wednesday that over 2,100 people were in hospitals in Wales with CCP virus symptoms, as he announced that the nation was moving to Level 4 after Christmas—the highest of its four-level alert system.

The government’s guide (pdf) to restrictions said that Level 4 restrictions are “equivalent to the firebreak regulations or lockdown.”

All non-essential retail in all of Wales, including close contact services and all leisure and fitness centres, will close at the end of trading on Christmas Eve; and all hospitality premises will close from 6 p.m. on Christmas Day, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Tighter restrictions on household mixing, staying-at-home, holiday accommodation, and travel will apply from [Dec. 28], after the 5-day Christmas period.”

Level 4 rules (pdf) prohibit household mixing, whether indoor or outdoor, and any travel without “reasonable excuse.”

For five days between Dec. 23 and Dec. 27 across the UK, three households can form a “Christmas bubble” to meet in private homes and gardens, places of worship, or public outdoor spaces. Travel across different tiers and nations to meet with your Christmas bubble will also be allowed during the five days.