Further 20 Covid related deaths recorded in Northern Ireland

By Rebecca Black, PA

Twenty deaths linked to Covid-19 have been recorded in Northern Ireland in the latest weekly update.

The fatalities, in the week ending July 29th, take the total number of coronavirus-linked deaths recorded by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) to 4,785.

The figure is drawn from different data sources and is always higher than the Department of Health’s total as it provides a broader picture of the impact of Covid-19.

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

Nisra obtains its data from death certificates on which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the death took place or whether the patient tested positive.

The statistics agency reports its Covid data with a week’s lag.

The Nisra figure includes 3,336 deaths in hospital, 1,000 in care homes and 449 at residential addresses, hospices or other locations.

Covid-19 was also mentioned on the death certificate of 22 of the 351 deaths registered in the week to July 29th.

Some of the deaths registered in the week ending July 29th could have taken place earlier as they can take days to register.

Those aged 75 and over accounted for 73.9 per cent of the Covid-related deaths registered between March 19th, 2020 and July 29th this year.