BREAKING: 2 new COVID-19 related deaths and 129 more people diagnosed with the virus

By Peter Moor

Two more people have died in Northern Ireland having contracted Coronavirus according to the Department of Health.

There's now been 573 COVID-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland according to the Department.

This number mainly covers hospital related deaths unlike the figures released by NISRA on Friday which said 877 people had died in connection with COVID-19.

NISRA uses information based on death certificates whereas the Department of Health only records people who die after testing positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, 129 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours.

In the past seven days, the Department of Health has recorded 641 new cases of Coronavirus.

It brings the total number of infections here since the start of the pandemic to 8,631.

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The Department of Health data also showed 25 care homes here now have confirmed outbreaks of the virus, with 8 having suspected outbreaks.

190 care homes now have closed outbreaks.

The dashboard also provides information on the intensive care bed capacity throughout Northern Ireland

3 patients with COVID-19 are now in intensive care, with 75 CU beds being occupied by other non-COVID-19 patients.

Therefore, there are now 17 ICU beds unoccupied across the region's hospitals.