As many as one-in-13 people in Wales could currently have covid, according to latest figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its regular weekly release analysing results from the COVID-19 Infection Survey.

And, while the overall findings showed a positive trend UK wide, there is some cause for concern in Wales.

While new case numbers have been falling – according to Public Health Wales (PHW), the overall number of covid positive people in Wales might be a lot higher than first thought.

At this time, the ONS data estimates that as many as one-in-13 people in Wales currently have covid.

This excludes those in hospitals and care homes, and only considers private households.

The ONS estimates that 230,800 people in Wales, or 7.5 per cent of the population, has covid at this time.

It includes all known variants of the potentially deadly virus, with the Omicron BA.2 variant still the most dominant.

In recent days, the PHW figures show that new cases of the virus are more prevalent in Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen than anywhere else in Wales.

The ONS study uses the percentage of positive results from tests carried out, to paint a complete picture across Wales, and the rest of the UK.

However, it is worth noting that there are fewer tests than ever before being carried out.

It comes as a result of free testing coming to an end – with only those in healthcare and care settings required to regularly test.

What’s more, symptomatic people or close contacts are no longer required to take a test, which are no longer free.

What has been said about the latest figures?

Sarah Crofts, head of analytical outputs for the COVID-19 infection survey, said: “While infections remain high, there are early signs in our latest data that they may no longer be increasing in some parts of the UK.

"Across English regions, there is a mixed picture in trends and we have seen a welcome decrease in Scotland.   

“However, rates in Wales continue to rise and the trend in Northern Ireland is uncertain.

"It is too early to say if infections have peaked in England and Scotland. We will continue to monitor the data closely.”