Eight more people have died in Northern Ireland after contracting Covid-19 according to the Department of Health.

In the past 24 hours, 510 new cases of the virus have been confirmed.

In hospitals, 457 patients have tested positive for Covid-19 with 32 of these being in intensive care beds and 25 on ventilators.

The Department of Health data also showed 87 care homes have confirmed outbreaks of the virus.

The figures were released a day after elderly nursing home patients were among those treated by nurses in a hospital car park as they struggled to cope with record high levels of Covid admissions.

Antrim Area Hospital was at the centre of unprecedented scenes as 15 ambulances queued outside the A&E department waiting to admit patients.

Today's figures show hospital bed occupancy in the north is at 105 per cent with eight hospitals operating beyond capacity.