Twenty new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the Hywel Dda Health Board area, according to Public Health Wales figures released today.

Today’s figures show 14 new cases in Carmarthenshire, four in Pembrokeshire and two in Ceredigion.

In Wales, 323 new cases have been confirmed and 21 new suspected Covid-19 deaths have also been reported by Public Health Wales.

The total number of cases in Wales is now 197,344, with 5,032 deaths.

Seven more deaths were recorded in the Hywel Dda area, bringing the total up to 396 throughout the pandemic.

The total number of cases across the three counties is now 14,941 – 10,114 in Carmarthenshire, 3,155 in Pembrokeshire and 1,672 in Ceredigion.

There have been 5,728 tests carried out since the last report.

Across Wales, 655,419 have received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and 3,687 the second dose.

In Hywel Dda the health board has administered 52,926 vaccinations up to 3 February – 24,866 in Carmarthenshire, 15,986 in Pembrokeshire and 9,530 in Ceredigion.

A further 2,541 have been given to council or health board staff working in the area but living elsewhere.

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Although the data currently shows that on an all-Wales level the numbers of cases are reducing and that the incidence is now below 120 cases per 100,000 population, the rates in some areas – particularly in North Wales – are still at nearly double that, and there have been small increases in others.

“It is encouraging to see that the numbers of people being treated for coronavirus in our hospitals is reducing, there are still a large number of people who are extremely ill, which means that the pressure on services is still very high.

“All of Wales remains in lockdown. We recognise that complying with the restrictions can be challenging, but coronavirus is still active in our communities and can cause severe illness and death. The reduction in the number of cases does not mean that people can meet people from other households (apart from one person for socially distanced exercise), as this can cause the virus to spread.

“As a nation, we have made so many sacrifices throughout the course of the pandemic that we really don’t want to squander the gains that have been made in recent weeks.”