Northern Ireland

No further deaths linked to Covid-19 as 81 new cases recorded

There have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19
There have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19 There have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19

There have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the Department of Health has said in its daily update on the pandemic.

It means the death toll remains at 2,154.

Another 81 cases of the virus were confirmed.

This morning there were 15 confirmed Covid-19 inpatients in hospital, none of whom were in intensive care. It is the first time ICU units in the north have had no coronavirus patients since August last year.

Bed occupancy in hospitals is 104 per cent or 120 beds over capacity. Six hospitals are operating beyond capacity; Antrim Hospital, the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, the Mater Hospital in north Belfast, the Royal Victoria Hospital in west Belfast, the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen and the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

The seven-day infection rate in the north is 29.0. Derry and Strabane has the highest rate at 59.7 while Ards and North Down has the lowest at 9.9.

There is one confirmed outbreak in a care home.

Latest vaccination statistics show 1,814,278 jabs have been administered; 1,094,478 first doses and 719,800 second doses.

Meanwhile, in the Republic there have been an additional 271 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

There are 77 people in hospital with the disease, with 27 in intensive care units.

Daily case numbers may change due to future data review, validation and update, owing to the cyberattack on the HSE.