There have been eleven further Covid-related deaths reported by the Department of Health today (Tuesday).
Seven of these occurred in the last 24 hours, with four outside that timeframe – according to the official dashboard – which has the overall total now at 947.
There have been no further deaths in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon borough, where the total number of lives lost to date remains at 103. There has been one further death in the Newry, Mourne and Down district, where the total now stands at 59.
There were a further 79 cases reported in that timeframe, with five in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon and a further five in Newry, Mourne and Down.
A total of 812 individuals were tested.
There are 445 people now in hospital – that’s seven more than Sunday – as a result of the virus, 37 of whom are in intensive care units – no change. There are currently 26 ICU beds available in NI – five less than yesterday.
Fifty-eight patients are in Craigavon today – down two. To date, 580 patients have been discharged from the Co. Armagh hospital.
There are six Covid patients in Daisy Hill, with 14 in Lurgan Hospital.
Meanwhile, there are tentative plans to collectively relax coronavirus restrictions across the UK over the Christmas period.
A Cobra meeting bringing together the UK Government and the devolved executives – including Northern Ireland – is being held today to discuss allowing families to unite over the festive period.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told a joint session of the Health and Social Care and Science and Technology Committees that he hoped the roll-out of a vaccine would signal that life could go back to “normal” by Easter, on April 4, 2021.
