THERE have been six more Covid deaths in the north, according to the latest weekly statistics.
Figures published by Nisra show that the deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in the week ending June 24.
Nisra says there have now been 4,658 deaths. Of these, 3,241 (69.6 per cent) took place in hospital, 985 (21.1 per cent) in care homes and 432 (9.3 per cent) at residential addresses, hospices or other locations.
Further analysis, which includes deaths of care home residents by place of death, shows that there was a total of 1,289 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 - including those that took place in a hospice, hospital, care home or elsewhere - occurring between March 18 2020 and June 24 2022. This accounts for 27.7 per cent of all Covid-19 related deaths. However, no assumptions can be made in relation to where the deceased contracted the disease, Nisra said.
Separate analysis, based on the date of death registration, shows that the provisional number of total deaths from all causes registered in Northern Ireland in the week ending June 24, was 322, 24 more than the previous week and 38 more than the 5-year average (2017-2021) of 284.
Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate of 10 (3.1 per cent) of the 322 deaths registered, six more than the previous week.
People aged 75 and over accounted for 73.8 per cent of Covid?19 related deaths registered.
Over the period of the pandemic, Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon and Mid-Ulster Local Government Districts have had higher proportions of registered Covid-19 related deaths (12.3 and 8.0 per cent respectively) compared with their share of all deaths in Northern Ireland (10.4 and 6.7 per cent respectively).
Conversely, Ards & North Down and Fermanagh & Omagh both have relatively low shares.
Meanwhile, a consultant in respiratory medicine has said there are currently a large number of incidental Covid-19 cases in hospital in the Republic, where patients are admitted for another issue, and are then found to be infected.
Professor Seamus Linnane, who is also head of the Beacon Hospital's Long Covid clinic, said the latest wave was due to variants being much more transmissible than before. However, the illness is not as severe for most people.
"When we're meeting with patients in hospital who have Covid, there are a large number of incidental diagnoses. That's patients who are in hospital for other reasons," he told RTÉ.
"Because of surveillance processes, we're discovering that they have a very mild Covid, and that obviously has a big impact in terms of their care."
