Localised hotpot Gellideg and Merthyr Town has had 47 cases in the past week, half of those in the county. The area has a seven-day case rate of 669.3 per 100,000 population compared to the Wales average of 42.5. Merthyr council has responded by deploying a mobile testing unit to the Swansea Road estate.

Merthyr Tydfil's 'closeness and community' spreading virus
Dr Nnoaham told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast with Claire Summers:

"We have identified about four different clusters that are largely responsible for the increase in cases that we have had. We know that a number of workplaces have been involved in this cluster, we know there has been an extended household cluster in one of the areas. I think we understand exactly why this has happened and I just want to use the opportunity to appeal to people out there that whilst we're making progress in the vaccination programme we're by no means home and dry and we still need to maintain those precautions and be extra vigilant."

He said the spread was largely down to young people in the area.

"When we looked at the age profile of the majority of the cases and these clusters, what we're talking about is largely young people who have not had their vaccination," he said. And secondly, it does appear that the loss of discipline around the social distancing facemasks has been more likely in the younger populations. There's a bit of a loss of discipline that has happened more recently".