LISTEN: COVID-19 death toll in Northern Ireland passes the 1,000 mark with 15 new fatalities announced

By Peter Moor

Northern Ireland's Coronavirus death toll has passed the 1,000 mark for the first time.

Today the Department of Health announced that 15 more people had died after contracting the virus.

In total, it has now recorded 1,011 fatalities.

This number mainly covers hospital related deaths unlike the figures released by NISRA on Friday which said 1,333 people had died in connection with COVID-19 - 100 of these happened from 14th to 20th November.

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

Reacting to the latest statistics, the Health Minister Robin Swann said:

“We always have to remember that we are not talking about statistics but much-loved people who are desperately missed,” the Minister said.

“My profound sympathies go to every bereaved family.”

The Minister continued: “This is another harsh reminder of the threat posed by Covid-19. No one should underestimate the virus, or delude themselves that it could never affect them.

Health Minister Robin Swann

“I am very aware that there is still a small and vociferous minority who seek to play down the Coronavirus risks. This includes those who spout conspiracy theories on social media and those who think Northern Ireland could somehow have breezed through all this without adopting restrictions that were widely deployed elsewhere.

“To anyone trying to minimise the impact, I say please think again.”

The Minister again urged vigilance in terms of following public health advice.

“We need to ensure we get maximum benefit from the current restrictions in terms of pushing down infection rates. The same vigilance will be essential throughout Christmas and well beyond it.

“January and February are extremely difficult months for our health service, even in normal times. We need to keep doing everything we can to stop the virus spreading today and tomorrow, this week and next. Our actions will have a direct bearing on how the disease spreads, how it will impact on our lives and whether there will be a need for further restrictions in early 2021.”

Northern Ireland passes sad #COVID19 milestone

➡️https://t.co/n8wC9h6tKD pic.twitter.com/1DOHdsqHC7

— Department of Health (@healthdpt) December 1, 2020

391 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 2,523 new cases of Coronavirus.

It brings the total number of infections here since the start of the pandemic to 52,856.

419 people with COVID-19 are in hospitals across Northern Ireland with 38 of these being in intensive care beds, 29 being on ventilators.

62 ICU beds are being occupied by other non-COVID-19 patients.

Therefore, there are now 15 ICU beds unoccupied across the region's hospitals.

Department of Health logo

The Department of Health data also showed 128 care homes here now have confirmed outbreaks of the virus, with none having suspected outbreaks.

327 care homes now have closed outbreaks.