Coronavirus cases continue to rise at an ‘alarming rate’ in Ceredigion, council chiefs have warned.

27 new cases of the virus have been recorded today in Ceredigion and council chiefs have warned that the county has now reached the highest level of cases since the beginning of the pandemic, at 225.6 per 100,000 population (as at Sunday, 20 December).

Elsewhere, 37 cases have been recorded in Powys today; 36 in Pembrokeshire; 159 in Carmarthenshire and 18 in Gwynedd.

The increase has led Ceredigion council to say the situation is critical and to ask people to think seriously about their Christmas plans.

Following the new restrictions that came into force over the weekend, a maximum of two families can meet on Christmas Day only and all non-essential retail has been ordered to close.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The new variant of Covid-19 is in all parts of Wales.

“It spreads faster and we all need to be more vigilant and follow the guidelines.

“Wales has entered alert level 4 which means that we can only go out for food, education, care, health or work, if we cannot work from home.

“We must only travel when essential. We must not meet with people we do not live with, either indoors or outdoors.

“A person living alone or a single parent can form a support bubble with one other household.”

These rules will be eased for Christmas Day only when two households can come together to create a ‘Christmas bubble’ in Wales.

A third household can join the Christmas bubble if: it’s a household where one adult lives alone; where one adult lives with children under 18; or where more than one adult lives, but one adult has caring responsibilities for all of the other adults in the home.

A council spokesperson added: “But a smaller Christmas is a safer Christmas. If you decide to meet on Christmas Day, make it small and local.

“We are asking you to think about whether you should be coming together with your families this year. We would all like to spend time with our families in what has been a difficult year, but think about the harm this could cause.

“The fewer people we mix with in our homes, the less chance we have of catching or spreading the virus.

“By coming together indoors, the risk of spreading the virus increases.

“This will result in an increase in the number of people getting the virus, which will result in the number of people being admitted to hospital increasing and sadly, this will mean more deaths from Covid-19.

“But, we can all work together to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

“Don’t put your older family members at risk.

“Think whether it is the right thing to come together this Christmas. Think about postponing until the spring when many of the most vulnerable people will have received the vaccine, the weather will be better and you can enjoy each other’s company without the worry of spreading the virus.

“The best gift this Christmas is a Covid-19-free Christmas. Let’s work together to ensure that we can achieve this.”

10 new deaths have been recorded today from suspected Covid-19 in Wales, taking the total to 3,125 since the pandemic began.