No further deaths and 70 positive cases of coronavirus confirmed in NI

by Q Radio News

No further coronavirus related deaths have been recorded in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours, according to the Department of Health. 

The department's death toll therefore remains at 2,155. 

However, 70 positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the past 24 hours. 

The department's dashboard will be updated fully again on Monday including the latest figures on hospital and ICU admissions. 

NI #COVID19 data:

📊70 positive cases and no deaths have been reported in past 24 hours.
💉1, 863,974 vaccines administered in total.

The dashboard will be updated on Monday 14 June.

Vaccines➡️https://t.co/Yfa0hHVmRL pic.twitter.com/1Sp665JeQP

— Department of Health (@healthdpt) June 13, 2021

To date, 1, 863,974 vaccines have been administered in total in Northern Ireland. 

The latest figures come as Boris Johnson is expected to agree to the delay of lockdown easing in England and, according to a new poll, just over half of the UK public is backing the move.

The lifting of the last remaining coronavirus restrictions had been planned for 21 June under the government's road map.

But, due to concerns about the rapidly-spreading delta variant, this is likely to be postponed - possibly until the middle of July.

Dr Raghib Ali, a government adviser on COVID-19, told Trevor Phillips On Sunday that a delay to lifting lockdown is "inevitable", and he "expects" the prime minister to say that "a delay is needed to make sure that we don't get to the situation again where the NHS is unable to provide care to all its patients".

He added: "Hospitals are extremely busy at the moment, the emergency departments last month were the busiest they have been for years because of the huge backlog of patients that didn't come in during the previous waves.

"Even a relatively small increase in hospital admissions from COVID will have a significant impact on all our non-COVID patients.

"We really can't afford for those people to suffer any more; they have already suffered enough over the last 18 months."