More patients with coronavirus in NI hospitals than at peak of first wave

This comes after 14 new deaths due to the virus were reported by the Department of Health over the weekend – eight on Sunday and six on Saturday.

At the height of the first wave, the ‘midnight bed occupancy’ due to coronavirus reached a peak of 322 on April 8.

That figure has been matched or exceeded on six occasions over the past week, with a peak of 348 coronavirus patients occupying beds on midnight on October 20.

The number of people in intensive care with the virus stood at 37 yesterday, of whom 27 were on ventillators, the latest figures from the Stormont health department show.

Of the 105 intensive care beds being staffed in Northern Ireland 15 are unoccupied.

A total of 896 people tested positive for the virus on Sunday, after 923 new cases were confirmed on Saturday.

In the UK as a whole, there were 19,790 new cases reported yesterday.

There were 151 deaths of people who had tested positive within the last 28 days reported by UK health authorities yesterday .