Cardiff Council Update: 15th December

15/12/20

Here is the latest update from Cardiff Council, covering: New test centres being set up due to a huge rise in infection rates; newgrants available for businesses in the leisure and hospitality sector; Cardiff's latest air quality data and the latest schools affected by COVID-19.

#KeepCardiffSafe

Check the rules online:

https://gov.wales/coronavirus

New test centres open in Cardiff to deal with huge rise in infection rates

Cardiff is opening up new COVID-19 test centres in the city and increasing capacity at existing centres in order to create an extra two thousand test slots per week following the sudden rise in COVID-19 infections across the city.

The Welsh capital has seen infection rates grow by 90% over the past week to reach the highest levels yet in the city, and with the positivity rate at 18% it's clear the virus is spreading through the community making it extremely difficult to contain.

The leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, is urging residents to take advantage of the new test centres and the increased capacity to book a test if they are feeling unwell or are displaying any of the symptoms including loss of taste or smell, a persistent dry cough, tiredness, a high temperature or difficulty breathing.

Update on schools affected by COVID-19: 15^thDecember, 2020

Ysgol Melin Gruffydd
A positive case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at Ysgol Melin Gruffydd. 29 Year 3 pupils and 2 members of staffhave been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as a close contacts of the confirmed case.

Llanishen High School
Six positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at Llanishen High School. 93 pupils from Years 7 and 11 and 2 members of staff have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as a close contacts of the confirmed cases.

St Teilo's CW High School
Five positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed atSt Teilo's CW High School. 71 pupils from Year 12 and 98 pupils from Year 11 and 3 members of staff have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Corpus Christi Catholic High School
Three positive cases have been confirmed at Corpus Christi Catholic High School. 161 pupils from Year 8 and 1 member of staff have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Cardiff High School.
Seven positive cases have been confirmed at Cardiff High School. 126 pupils from Years 8, 12 and 13 as well as 6 members of staff have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Ysgol Bro Edern
Two positive cases have been confirmed at Ysgol Bro Edern. 85 pupils from Year 9 have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Herbert Thompson Primary school
Three positive cases have been confirmed atHerbert Thompson Primary School. 141 pupils from Reception, Year 3 and Year 6 have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 cases.

St Mary's Primary School
Two positive cases have been confirmed at St Mary's Primary School. 27 pupils from Year 3 have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 case.

Ysgol Gyfun Plasmawr
A positive of COVID-19 has been confirmed at Ysgol Gyfun Plasmawr. 6 pupils from Year 13 have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 case.

Windsor Clive Primary School
A positive case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at Windsor Clive Primary School. 11 pupils from Year 3 have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 case.

Ysgol Pen Y Pil
A positive case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at Ysgol Pen Y Pil. 15 pupils from Year 2 and 3 members of staff have been advised by Public Health Wales to self-isolate for 10 days after they were identified as close contacts of the confirmed COVID-19 case.

Latest financial support for businesses

Leisure and hospitality businessesthat have been forced to close due to the latest Welsh Government restrictions & didn't apply for the initial firebreak grant, can apply for the following financial support based on the rateable value of their property:

A property with a rateable value of £12,000 or less, is eligible for a £3,000 payment
A property between £12,001 and £150,000, is eligible for a £5,000 payment.

Leisure and hospitality businessesthat applied & were accepted for the initial firebreak grant DO NOT need to apply, as a payment will be made to these businesses directly based on the details of their earlier application.

A Discretionary £2,000 payment is also available for businesses not liable to pay business rates to Cardiff Council that have been forced or required to close as a result of the national restrictions put in place for hospitality businesses, or who have seen turnover fall by at least a 40% as a direct result of the latest restrictions. This could include, for example, taxi drivers licensed in Cardiff who can show an impact of the restrictions on income.

Air quality in Cardiff improves

The latest air quality data for Cardiff suggests a marked improvement in 2019, compared with the previous year in three out of four Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA's) in the city.

The data, which is pre-pandemic, points towards air quality improving in the city.

AQMA's are established when monitoring of air pollution indicates levels are close to or exceeding the legal requirements. Currently AQMA's are in place in the City Centre (focussing on Westgate Street); Ely Bridge, Stephenson Court (off Newport Road), and in Llandaff.

The legal limit forNO₂in Wales is an annual average concentration of 40 µg/m³. Monitoring results at locations where residents are more likely to be exposed within the AQMAs have shown the following results for 2019...