Coronavirus infections reach another record high in NI with over 2,000 cases, latest figures show

Until yesterday, the number of cases had not reached more than 1,500 for a single day at any stage of the pandemic.

Yesterday’s figure of 1,566 has now been surpassed by a huge margin, with the latest update from the Stormont health department showing that 2,143 infections have been confirmed in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, another six deaths of people who tested positive for the virus in the past 28 days have also been confirmed.

This follows warnings earlier this year that the health service could be braced for its toughest winter yet.

On Tuesday, the British Medical Association’s Northern Ireland chair, Dr Tom Black, said the the health service is expecting to feel the impact of the rise in cases in the middle of next month.

Speaking to the News Letter, he said: “Our big concern is that, in the second and third week in January, there will be a peak in terms of GP access, emergency departments and wards.”

The latest statistics show that there are currently 492 coronavirus inpatients across all hospitals in Northern Ireland, of whom 35 are in intensive care with 24 on ventilators.

Overall bed capacity is listed at 96% — meaning only 4% of the nearly 3,000 hospital beds staffed across Northern Ireland remain free to be allocated to patients.

The South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen is listed as being 12.1% over capacity, meaning there are more patients requiring care than the total number of beds in the hospital.