A total of 18 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the Hywel Dda Health Board area in the last 24 hours.

There were eight cases in Pembrokeshire, bringing the county’s total to 271, one new case in Ceredigion, which has 39, and nine in Carmarthenshire, which now has 630 cases.

So far, a total of 55 deaths have been recorded across the health board area.

Dr Robin Howe, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Public Health Wales welcomes the announcement yesterday by the Health Minister of the extension of coronavirus testing to all care home residents and staff.

“In conjunction with the Welsh Government’s ‘Test, Trace, Protect’ strategy published last week, Public Health Wales will continue to work in partnership with our communities, the Welsh Government, the wider NHS and local government in Wales to focus on protecting the health of the people of Wales as we support the implementation of the strategy.

“We have been working hard to increase our testing capacity, and as of Monday May 11 our capacity was at 5,330 tests a day in Wales. We know there is more to do as demand increases, and we will continue to ramp up this capacity.

“The Welsh Government announced on May 8 that lockdown arrangements would continue in Wales for a further three weeks: in Wales stay-at-home guidance remains that, wherever you can, you should stay at home.

“Although we appear to have passed the peak of new cases in Wales, Novel Coronavirus is still circulating in every part of the country. The single most important action we can all take in fighting the virus is to stay at home, and we thank each and every person across Wales for doing their bit to help slow the spread of the virus.

“Public Health Wales continues to support the implementation of the Critical Workers Testing Policy to make sure we use the current testing capacity in Wales to the full, ensuring we test the right people, at the right time, in the right place, to reduce the spread of Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19).

“We are encouraging everyone to download the Novel Coronavirus Symptom Study app, which has been supported by Welsh Government. The app allows users to log daily symptoms to help build a clearer picture of how the virus is affecting people. For more information, including how to download the app, visit covid.joinzoe.com.

“People no longer need to contact NHS 111 if they think they may have contracted Novel Coronavirus. Information about the symptoms to look out for is available on the Public Health Wales website, or members of the public can use the NHS Wales symptom checker.

“Anyone with a suspected coronavirus illness should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. They should only contact NHS 111 if they feel they cannot cope with their symptoms at home, their condition gets worse, or their symptoms do not get better after seven days.

"While emphasising the importance of staying at home, we also want to reinforce the message from NHS Wales that urgent and emergency care services for physical and mental health are still open and accessible.”