No new COVID-19 linked deaths for second day running

By Peter Moor

For the second day running, there have been no new deaths linked to COVID-19.

Therefore, according to the Department of Health, 541 people have now died from the virus.

This figure is lower than figures released on Friday by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)

They reported 779 COVID-19 related deaths here up to 5th June.

NISRA figures relate to information entered on death certificates, completed by medical professionals.

They may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus.

Whereas. Department of Health figures are based on mainly hospital patients having previously tested positive for the virus

The data from the Department of Health dashboard also revealed 4 more people have been tested positive for the virus here.

There have now been 4,852 positive lab tests for COVID-19 in Northern Ireland.

The figures also show 55 care homes currently have confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19.

27 care homes have suspected outbreaks and 90 have closed outbreaks of the virus.

The figures also provide detail of capacity in Northern Ireland's hospitals.

It revealed that out of Northern Ireland's 103 intensive care unit beds, only 5 are occupied by patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, with four of these patients being on ventilators.

Another 59 of the beds are taken up by non COVID-19 related patients, providing 39 spare ICU beds.