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Covid cases 'under-reported in the north'

Covid cases in the north are being under-reported due to less testing. Picture from Press Association
Covid cases in the north are being under-reported due to less testing. Picture from Press Association Covid cases in the north are being under-reported due to less testing. Picture from Press Association

A REDUCTION in Covid testing has led to cases being seriously under-reported.

According to the Office for National Statistics, between 15,000 and 20,000 Covid cases are emerging in the north every day, the BBC reported.

The number of official Covid cases is around 2,500 every day, according to Department of Health figures.

The Omicron BA2 sub-variant of Covid is now at the highest level in the north.

Around 87 per cent of Covid samples taken in one week last month were linked to BA2, which is even more infectious than the main Omicron variant.

Despite the high infection rates, only one Covid patient is being treated in intensive care in the north.

Hospitals were treating 483 patients with Covid yesterday, compared to 481 on Wednesday.

Another 2,602 cases of the disease were officially reported yesterday, down from 2,683 on the previous day.

A further four people in Northern Ireland have died from Covid, according to figures from the Department of Health.

A total of 3,245 people so far have died from the disease,

The department measures deaths by recording those who died within 28 days of receiving a positive coronavirus test.

In the Republic, a total of 6,578 people have died from Covid since the start of the pandemic.

That figure includes "probable and possible" Covid-linked deaths.

Another 1,715 cases of coronavirus, as confirmed by PCR tests, were reported in the Republic on Wednesday.

On the same day, 7,355 people registered a positive antigen test.

A total of 877 Covid patients, 41 of whom were in intensive care, were being treated in hospitals in the Republic.