NI Coronavirus death-toll shoots up to 757 with NISRA reporting 36 new COVID-19 related deaths

The weekly NISRA report was published on Friday morning.

The report showed a disparity between the way in which NISRA and the Department of Health (DoH) record COVID-19 related deaths.

DoH reported 528 COVID-19 related deaths up May 29 whilst NISRA reported 757 for the same period.

The daily updates provided by the DoH count the number of deaths reported by health and social care trusts throughout Northern Ireland, where the deceased had a positive test for COVID-19 and died within 28 days, whether or not COVID-19 was the cause of death.

NISRA weekly, provisional death statistics, which are based on death registration information collected by the General Register Office, count all deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate by the doctor who certified the death, whether or not COVID-19 was the primary underlying cause of death.

Of the 757 deaths, 381 (50.3%) took place in hospital, 328 (43.3%) in care homes, eight (1.1%) in hospices and 40 (5.3%) at residential addresses or other locations.

The 336 deaths which occurred in care homes and hospices involved 78 separate establishments.

Separate analyses based on the date of death registration, shows that the provisional number of total deaths registered in Northern Ireland in the week ending May 29 (week 21) was 316, nine fewer than in week 20 and 37 more than the five year average of 279.

Over the last nine weeks in total, 939 ‘excess deaths’ (deaths above the average for the corresponding period in previous years) have been registered in Northern Ireland, with the number of ‘excess deaths’ in the year to date to May 29 totalling 680.

COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate for 49 (15.5%) of the 316 deaths registered in week 21, the fifth consecutive weekly fall in the number of registered COVID-19 related deaths and bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths registered in the calendar year 2020 to 754.

Persons aged 75 and over accounted for two-thirds (66.8%) of all deaths and 80.0% of COVID‑19 related deaths registered this calendar year up to May 29.

For Covid-19 related deaths, those with an address in Belfast Local Government District (LGD) accounted for 226 (30.0%) of the 754 deaths registered in the calendar year to May 29.

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