Northern Ireland

No further deaths linked to Covid-19 in NI

There have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland
There have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland There have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland

THERE have been no further deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said last night.

There were another 87 confirmed cases of the virus recorded.

Other figures revealed there were 15 confirmed Covid-19 inpatients in hospital, but none were in intensive care.

However, the seven-day infection rate in Northern Ireland has risen to 36.9 - the highest in has been in seven weeks. The area with highest rate is Derry and Strabane on 81.0, while the lowest remains Ards and North Down on 17.4.

There have been 694 cases of coronavirus confirmed in the past week, up from 521 in the previous week.

Overall, hospital bed occupancy is at 102 per cent or 66 beds over capacity.

Five hospitals were operating beyond capacity - Antrim Hospital, Belfast City Hosptial, the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, the Royal Victoria Hospital in west Belfast and the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

There were also two confirmed outbreaks of Covid-19 in care homes.

Latest vaccination figures show 1,865,635 jabs have been administered in the north - 1,114,098 first doses and 751,537 second doses.

Meanwhile, in the Republic last night there were no coronavirus-related deaths recorded.

Figures also showed there were 242 further confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 67 patients in hospital with the virus/

There were 23 patients in intensive care units, one more than the previous day.

The roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in the Republic entered a new phase yesterday, with around 1,000 community pharmacists to administer vaccine dose.