A leading doctor at the Aneurin Bevan Health Board in Wales has warned that coronavirus patients now make up the majority of intensive care patients. Intensive care consultant at the Welsh hospital Ami Jones said that staff were "pretty gutted" to see the next wave of coronavirus patients. The latest official data reveals there are now more people in ICU with COVID-19 in Wales than there were when the Welsh assembly announced its firebreak lockdown last year.

       Writing on Twitter, Dr Jones said: "Frustrating day for ABUHB (Aneurin Bevan Health Board) ITU staff today as we “flipped” the largest part of the unit from Amber (non-Covid) to red (Covid).

       "Covid patients now make up the majority of our patients on the unit.

       "We’re all pretty gutted that we’re facing this next wave of Covid patients.

       "Vaccination has certainly weakened the link between infections and hospitalisations.

       "But it hasn’t broken it and the unvaccinated are featuring heavily in hospitalised patients."

       Doctor Jones then went on to urge people to get double vaccinated.

       She tweeted: "Please get vaccinated.

       "Please make sure that you keep wearing facemasks, social distancing and avoiding poorly ventilated areas whether you’re vaccinated or not.

       "You can still catch and spread Covid if vaccinated but the risk of becoming seriously unwell/hospitalised is much less."

       Speaking about unvaccinated people in critical care wards, Len Richards, chief executive of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said that five out of six people in ICU had not been vaccinated.

       On Friday there were 47 patients who had contracted coronavirus in the ICU unit of the hospital in Gwent, in the south-east of Wales.

       The patients were placed in invasive ventilated beds.

       These beds are where the most serious hospital admissions are treated.

       Data from StatsWales shows there were more patients in ICU beds at the hospital now than on October 19 last year.

       The Welsh government has said it will introduce a "short, sharp" firebreak lockdown for 17 days to slow the rising cases in the country.