The Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, has warned that Bangor could be considered for a hyper-local lockdown after a rise in positive coronavirus cases in Gwynedd.
As part of his talks about planning for a “difficult winter” for Wales, an Incident Management team has been set up in Bangor. The team will be providing reports and suggestions to the Welsh government as the pandemic continues.
“The situation is still very fluid in Wales as it is across the UK and rest of Europe and the world, in fact, and we can’t rule out further restrictions”, he said.
In the Welsh Government conference, Dr Atherton also suggests that Gwynedd county is being “considered” for further restrictions, and that recent increases in Gwynedd cases were linked to students.
According to Dr Atherton, “much of the increased number of cases in Bangor has related specifically to the student population”. He says that an increase in the number of cases related to specific outbreaks – such as those in student communities – are easier to manage.
The news today comes shortly after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Ffriddoedd – one of Bangor University’s student accommodation campuses – in late September.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Wales has increased from 20-30 in August to 752 as of yesterday.
A total of 15 counties in Wales are currently under local lockdown restrictions to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Recently added to this list were Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy, and Wrexham as of October 1st.
Dr Atherton also emphasised the importance of maintaining social distancing, washing hands, and wearing masks where appropriate.
“We have to look after ourselves to keep viral transmissions low”, he said.
