ABERYSTWYTH University has confirmed this evening that 12 cases of coronavirus have been identified among students.

Earlier today, Public Health Wales reported that 11 new cases of Covid-19 had been recorded in Ceredigion, the biggest daily jump in numbers for the county since the pandemic began in March.

In a statement, Aberystwyth University said this evening: “Since students have started returning for the new academic year, 12 cases of Covid-19 amongst students have been confirmed to us.”

The number of suspected cases on Monday led the university to cancel all face-to-face teaching, saying “Aberystwyth University has taken the decision to suspend in-person teaching temporarily,” adding “this has been a difficult call which is partly driven by uncertainty surrounding the scale of spread within our community.

 

It has also been announced this evening that four North Wales regions will go into local lockdown from Thursday, following a rise in Covid-19 cases.

Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy and Wrexham will from 6pm on Thursday, 1 October enter the same lockdown rules as seen in South Wales over the past week.

The local restrictions will not be introduced in Anglesey or Gwynedd at this stage, the Welsh Government confirmed, where cases are lower.

Speaking on the new lockdowns, Health Minister, Vaughan Gething, said: “Unfortunately, we have seen a rise in coronavirus cases in four north Wales local authority areas.

“These are largely linked to people socialising indoors and are the pattern of transmission similar to what we have seen in South Wales.

“We have worked closely with local authority leaders and the police in North Wales and we all agree about the need to take swift action to control and the spread of the virus.

“Large parts of Wales will now be subject to local restrictions but I want to be clear – this is not a national lockdown.

“These are a series of local restrictions to respond to rises in cases in individual areas.

“It’s always difficult to make the decision to impose restrictions but we hope that these measures will make a positive difference – just as we have seen in Caerphilly and Newport, where local residents have pulled together and followed the rules.

“It is important we all work together and support each other. This isn’t just about protecting ourselves, it’s about protecting each other.”