Covid-19: Three deaths, 7,133 new cases

By Q Radio News

A further 7,133 cases of Covid-19 and three deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours.

There are 403 Covid-positive patients in hospital with 32 of them in intensive care.

24 of the 32 Covid patients in ICU are being ventilated.

Eight hospitals are operating over capacity.

Derry City and Strabane council area continues to have the highest infection rate (4,434) while the Northern Ireland average is (2,653.6).

Ards and North Down has the lowest rate (1887.2).

The age group with the highest percentage of people testing positive is 20 to 24 year olds (15%).

There are Covid outbreaks in 168 care homes, up from 81 in the previous seven-day period.

The death toll since the start of the pandemic stands at 2,998.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has announced that those who test positive for Covid-19 using a lateral flow test will no longer need a PCR rest to confirm that result.

The Department of Health (DoH) said positive lateral flow tests should be reported to trigger contact tracing processes to alert close contacts.

And in the Republic another 17,656 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed. There are 928 Covid-positive patients in hospital and 94 of them are in ICU.