Northern Ireland

Covid variants behind soaring infection rate in north as 1 in 19 have the virus

One in 19 people in the north had Covid in the last week
One in 19 people in the north had Covid in the last week One in 19 people in the north had Covid in the last week

COVID cases in Northern Ireland have soared in a week, with one in 19 people infected with the disease.

The north now has the second-highest Covid prevalence in the UK, behind Scotland.

Covid-19 infections are continuing to rise, driven by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 2.7 million people are estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, up 18 per cent from 2.3 million the previous week.

This is the highest estimate since late April, but is still below the record high of 4.9 million, which was reached at the end of March.

Covid is most prevalent in Scotland, where around one in 17 people have the virus, up from one in 18 the previous week.

However, infections in Scotland have been increasing at a slower rate compared with other regions, the ONS said.

In England, 2.2 million people were likely to have had the virus last week, the equivalent of around one in 25, up from one in 30.

Wales has also seen infections jump - to one in 20 people, up from one in 30.

Meanwhile, 20 deaths linked to Covid-19 have been recorded in Northern Ireland in the latest weekly update.

The fatalities, in the week ending July 1, take the total number of coronavirus-linked deaths recorded by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) to 4,684.

The figure is drawn from different data sources and is always higher than the Department of Health's total as it provides a broader picture of the impact of Covid-19.

The department's statistics focus primarily on hospital deaths and include only people who have tested positive for the virus.

Nisra obtains its data from death certificates on which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the death took place or whether the patient tested positive.

The statistics agency reports its Covid data with a week's lag.

The Nisra figure includes 3,263 deaths in hospital, 986 in care homes and 435 at residential addresses, hospices or other locations.

Covid-19 was also mentioned on the death certificate of 19 of the 347 deaths registered in the week to July 1.

Some of the deaths registered in the week ending July 1 could have taken place before that week as they can take days to register.

Those aged 75 and over accounted for 73.9% of the Covid-related deaths registered between March 19, 2020 and July 1 this year.