NI council area has UK’s worst rate of Covid infections

And NI currently has almost twice as many new cases pro rata as GB.

The figures show how the third wave of coronavirus, which began at the end of May, is once again on the rise after a period last month when it appeared that cases may have peaked.

Fermanagh & Omagh in the south-west of Northern Ireland also has the highest rate of any local authority in the UK, with a total of 1,003.9 cases per 100,000 people recorded in the seven days to August 18.

This is the first time that any local authority in Northern Ireland has recorded rates over 1,000 since comparable records began in summer 2020, when mass testing was first introduced.

The figures show how the third wave of coronavirus, which began in the UK at the end of May of this year, is once again on the rise after a period last month when it appeared cases may have peaked.

Around two-thirds (67%) of all local authority areas across the UK are currently recording an increase in case rates, including every area in Wales, all but one area in Northern Ireland (Mid Ulster) and all areas on mainland Scotland, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

Northern Ireland’s rate of new cases currently stands at 579.5 per 100,000 people, the highest since January 8. while Wales is now at 297.4 per 100,000, the highest since January 16.

The picture is slightly different for the other two nations.

In Scotland rates are also rising sharply, but are currently below the levels reached earlier in the third wave at the start of July.

Scotland recorded 289.2 cases per 100,000 people in the week to August 18, up week-on-week from 167.2, though still below the recent peak of 425.0 on July 3.

England is the only one of the four nations where rates are currently rising slowly rather than sharply, with 323.8 cases per 100,000 in the week to August 18 – up from 306.9 a week earlier.

England is also still some way from hitting the sort of levels seen last month, when case rates peaked at 543.4 on July 19.

All four nations have now experienced a similarly “shaped” third wave.

Unlike the first and second waves of coronavirus cases, however, the third wave has yet to cause a similarly sharp rise in the number of hospital cases and deaths.

Meanwhile, the latest NI tragedy caused by the virus saw newborn baby girl Eviegrace Willis baptised yesterday at the funeral for her unvaccinated mother Samantha, who died in hospital after catching Covid.

The mother of four and care worker died with Covid-19 at the age of just 35 in Altnagelvin Hospital early on Friday morning.

Samantha passed away just days after the birth of her new baby daughter. She is survived by her husband Josh, Eviegrace and her three other children Shéa, Holly and Lilyanna.

Fr Joe Clifford, Josh’s uncle, travelled from Florida in the US to preside over the ceremony at Chapel Road.

“I have never done this before. I have never done a baptism at a funeral but it speaks to us about the two book ends of life,” Fr Clifford said during his homily.

“A funeral is for the end and a baptism is for the beginning and we are doing both on the same day, somehow or other, contextualising every single thing in between, and maybe even waking us up to know how fragile life is.”

Fr Clifford, who married Samantha and Josh in the same church just two-and-a-half years ago, spoke of the “deep sadness that’s wounded your hearts and broken you” following her untimely death.

The priest also referred to a moving tribute Josh had posted in the hours after Samantha’s death on Friday.

He had stated: “I have lost the love of my life Samantha to Covid-19. Samantha had put up a strong fight for the last 16 days but in the end just wasn’t enough.

“She did her best to come home to her family and beautiful children and shortly after 12 o’clock in the early hours of this morning passed away peacefully in ICU in Altnagelvin Hospital. Myself, her mother and two eldest children were by her side. She was in no pain and was comfortable when she slipped away.

“Whilst in hospital she also had to deliver our newest addition to the family who she has never met properly or held in her arms. I will make sure that Eviegrace will know all about the mother she will never meet. I will never let anyone forget you and I will remember all the special times and experiences we shared together.”

After her requiem mass Samantha was interred at Ballyoan cemetery in the Waterside.

The latest drive to bolster NI against the virus saw 12,194 first doses of Covid vaccine delivered here over the weekend.

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