Call for mass testing in Gwersyllt area as local councillors ask community “to observe rules and not to party over the New Year”

Local representatives have asked local residents of Gwersyllt and surrounding areas to see in the new year without parties, and also asked parents to “ensure their children do not congregate together”.

On Monday we published an update sent to all councillors that highlighted specific areas of Wrexham, although noting almost all areas had seen worse figures:

Sub-Areas
Almost all of the 18 sub-areas of Wrexham have seen worsening figures since my last weekly report on 21^st December.

• 10 have recorded their worst figures since 20^th October when PHW first started reporting these data (as shown in bold in the red boxes on the table)
• 8 have greater than 550/100k,compared to 7 on 21^st December.
• 3 have greater than 800/100k, compared to 2 on 21^st December,

o   Gwersyllt West & Summerhill has 1266, placing it in the worst centile in Wales

o   Wrexham West has 972, also placing it in the worst centile

o   Llay South & Gwersyllt East has 860, placing it in the second worst centile

• 1 has less than 300/100k, compared to 3 on 21^st December

Since that update Public Health Wales has published newly updated daily data, with +154 new reported cases for Wrexham on the day on day dashboard update with a positive proportion of tests at 26.6%. The overall seven day rolling figure for Wrexham up to Christmas Eve now 592.8 per 100k.

That data has also updated the ‘MSOA’ area of Gwersyllt West and Summerhill recording 79 cases, which is a 1,333 cases per 100k, and is still in the highest decile across Wales. Llay South and Gwersyllt East had 75 cases which is 934 per 100k and again still in the highest decile across Wales. The data is not in the usual ward level areas but ‘MSOA’ areas, ‘middle layer super output areas’. You can view the stats and map on the MSOA tab on the Public Health Wales dashboard that is updated every day around midday.

Councillor Gwenfair Jones (Gwersyllt West) and Phil Rees (Gwersyllt North) called on Wrexham Council to introduce mass testing in Gwersyllt following the publication of the figures, that show that the 7 day rate for the area is one of the highest in Wales.

Cllr Gwenfair Jones said, “We are aware that the infections are both in the community and in care homes in the area and we need to get it under control and the best way of doing that is to offer mass testing in the community”

“Both I and Phil also call on the local community to observe the rules and not to party over the New Year, and we also call on parents to ensure their children do not congregate together as that has been shown to spread the new strain very quickly.”

The Wrexham wide current map from Public Health Wales, with the darker two areas to the north being the two MSOA areas highlighted in the top image.

Lead Member for Communities, Partnerships, Public Protection and Community Safety, Cllr Hugh Jones – who also is heading up the council’s covid response, told us, “The decision on mass testing is one for Public Health Wales, we currently have a testing station in Wrexham at the Memorial Hall and it is due to the testing that we have been able to identify the prevalence of the virus in our community.”

“It is clear that household mixing, particularly indoors, is one of the main causes of the increase, combined with the infectiousness of the new strain of the virus.”

Cllr Jones reiterated, “The guidance on mask wearing, social distancing and not mixing households indoors has never been more important and as a Council we will be re-enforcing this message.”