1 new COVID-19 related death in Northern Ireland and 7 new cases

By Peter Moor

1 new death related to COVID-19 has been announced here by the Department of Health.

It brings the death toll linked to the virus to 551.

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

They reported 816 COVID-19 related deaths here up to 19th 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.

New figures from NISRA are expected to be released tomorrow morning.

The data from the Department of Health dashboard also revealed seven more person has tested positive for the virus here.

There have now been 5,768 positive lab tests for COVID-19 in Northern Ireland.

The figures also show 21 care homes currently have confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19.

12 care homes have suspected outbreaks and 141 homes 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 99 intensive care unit beds, none are occupied by patients with COVID-19.

71 of the beds are taken up by non COVID-19 related patients, providing 28 spare ICU beds.