Northern Ireland’s coronavirus-linked death toll passes 1,500

By David Young, PA

The coronavirus-linked death toll in Northern Ireland has passed 1,500, the region’s statistics agency has said.

Figures compiled by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) present a broader picture of the impact of Covid-19 than the toll reported by Stormont’s Department of Health.

The department’s statistics focus primarily on hospital deaths and only include people who have tested positive for the virus.

Nisra obtains its data from death certificates in which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the death took place.

The person may or may not have tested positive for the virus.

While the departmental death toll stood at 1,099 on Thursday, Nisra has reported coronavirus as a factor in 1,501 deaths that occurred up to December 4.

The statistics agency reports its Covid-19 data with a week lag.

It found that 80 Covid-19-linked deaths occurred in the week November 28 – December 4.

The comparative total number of deaths reported daily by the Department of Health stood at 1,099 on December 4.

Of the 1,501 deaths recorded by Nisra by December 4, 884 (59%) occurred in hospital, 503 (34%) in care homes, nine (0.6%) in hospices and 105 (7%) at residential addresses or other locations.

The 512 deaths which occurred in care homes and hospices involved 124 separate establishments.

Nisra also provides an analysis around the total number of care home residents who have died, whether in their home or in hospital, having been transferred for treatment.

Up to December 4, the deaths of 630 care home residents were linked to coronavirus, 127 of which occurred in hospital.

Care home residents make up about 42% of all deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.

In the week November 28 – December 4, 98 coronavirus-linked deaths were officially registered in Northern Ireland, some of which occurred before that week as fatalities can take a number of days to register.