No new COVID-19 linked deaths announced here and 1 new case of the virus

By Peter Moor.

No new COVID-19 related deaths have been announced in Northern Ireland today by the Department of Health.

It means the death toll remains at 543.

The data from the Department of Health dashboard also reveals just one more person has been tested positive for the virus here.

There have now been 4,863 positive lab tests for COVID-19 in Northern Ireland.

This figure is lower than figures released on Friday 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

New NISRA figures on COVID-19 related deaths are to be released tomorrow morning.

The figures also show 50 care homes currently have confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19.

23 are homes have suspected outbreaks and XX 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 104 intensive care unit beds, only 3 are occupied by patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, with all of these patients being on ventilators.

Another 67  of the beds are taken up by non COVID-19 related patients, providing 34 spare ICU beds.