The number of coronavirus cases in Torfaen increased by 153 over the weekend, official figures show.

A total of 8,548 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Torfaen when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on September 6 (Monday), up from 8,395 on Friday.

Public Health Wales said that cases reported on Mondays will be for a 48-hour period so are likely to be much higher than the usual 24-hour figures.

The rate of infection in Torfaen now stands at 9,014 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the Wales average of 9,270.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 113,958 over the period, to 7,018,927.

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Meanwhile, Welsh Government has confirmed there are “no plans” for a firebreak lockdown in Wales.

Reports have suggested that the UK Government has drawn up plans for a firebreak lockdown in October in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus and the hospitalisations – although this has been denied by Downing Street.

If such a lockdown was put in place, it would only apply to England as restrictions aimed at halting the flow of coronavirus are devolved. And now the Welsh Government has said no such lockdown is on the cards in Wales.

A spokeswoman said: “There are no plans for a firebreak in Wales.

“We continue to closely monitor the public health situation and review the coronavirus regulations every three weeks.

“Coronavirus has not gone away, and we would encourage everyone to continue to take steps to protect themselves and their loved ones, including taking up the offer of a vaccine if they have not had one yet.”

Meanwhile the prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “No, it is not true that the government is planning a lockdown or firebreak around the October half-term.

“I think (vaccines minister) Nadhim Zahawi was asked a similar question this morning and made that clear as well.

“We have retained contingency plans as part of responsible planning for a range of scenarios, but these kind of measures would only be reintroduced as a last resort to prevent unsustainable pressure on our NHS.

“I think we’ve been clear throughout that we will take action, and indeed we have done when necessary to protect our NHS.

“But under the previous occasions when that action has been required, we have been without the significant defences that our vaccination programme provides us – we’re now in a much different phase.”