26 Covid-19 related deaths recorded last week

By Q Radio News

Latest figures published today by NISRA show that 26 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred last week in the week ending August 6 2021.

The total number of Covid-19 related deaths that occurred up to 6th August 2021 has now reached 3,056. Of these, 2,031 took place in hospital, 784 in care homes, 14 in hospices and 227 at residential addresses or other locations.

Latest figures published today by NISRA show that 26 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred last week in the week ending August 6 2021https://t.co/N69PVeHGWR

— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) August 13, 2021

The comparative number of deaths reported daily by the Department of Health (DoH) to 6th August 2021 was 2,217.

The DoH count is based on patients having previously tested positive for the virus, whereas the NISRA figures are based on the information entered on death certificates completed by medical professionals. They may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus and therefore include both confirmed and suspected cases, and where Covid-19 was either a contributor to or the main cause of death.

NISRA’s dashboard containing some of the key statistics from our weekly deaths publication has been updated. The dashboard is updated on a weekly basis.
https://t.co/yLSVh8RE0R pic.twitter.com/5sc6hAxssT

— NISRA (@NISRA) August 13, 2021

Further analysis, which includes deaths of care home residents by place of death, shows that there was a total of 1,023 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 (including deaths that took place somewhere other than the care home) occurring between 18th March 2020 and 6th August 2021.

This accounts for 33.5% of all Covid-19 related deaths.

However, no assumptions can be made in relation to where the deceased contracted the disease.

Separate analysis, based on the date of death registration, shows that the provisional number of total deaths from all causes registered in Northern Ireland in the week ending 6th August 2021 (week 31, 2021) was 342, 49 more than in week 30 and 69 more than the 5-year average (2016-2020) of 273.

Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate of 31 of the 342 deaths registered in week 31, an increase of 13 from the previous week, and the largest number of Covid-19 related deaths registered in one week since week ending 12th March 2021.

The total number of Covid-19 related deaths registered to 6th August 2021 has now reached 3,046.

Persons aged 75 and over accounted for 75.9% of the 3,046 Covid‑19 related deaths registered between 19th March 2020 and 6th August 2021.

Over the period of the pandemic, Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon and Mid-Ulster Local Government Districts have had higher proportions of Covid-19 related deaths (12.1% and 8.2% respectively) compared with their share of all deaths in Northern Ireland (10.3% and 6.5% respectively). Conversely, Ards & North Down and Fermanagh & Omagh both have relatively low shares of registered Covid-19 related deaths (2.7 and 2.5 percentage points lower respectively than their share of all deaths).