BREAKING: One new COVID-19 related death and 16 new cases, according to Department of Health

By Peter Moor.

One new death linked to COVID-19 has been announced here.

The death toll related to the virus therefore stands at 539.

This figure is lower than figures released today 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 56 care homes currently have confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19.

28 care homes have suspected outbreaks and 88 have closed outbreaks of the virus.

There are now more care homes in Northern Ireland with closed outbreaks of COVID-19, than there are homes with confirmed or suspected outbreaks.

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

It revealed that out of Northern Ireland's 110 intensive care unit beds, only 8 are occupied by patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

Another 73 of the beds are taken up by non COVID-19 related patients, providing 29 spare ICU beds.