NI hospitals running out of ICU beds as 12 more Covid-19 related deaths and 510 new infections recorded in last 24 hours

Northern Ireland hospitals are running out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds as deaths and new infections continue to rise.
Andrew Quinn
By Andrew Quinn
Published 18th Dec 2020, 16:32 BST
A nurse at Antrim Area Hospital waves to a patient who was waiting to be admitted in one of the rows of ambulances in the car park earlier this week.A nurse at Antrim Area Hospital waves to a patient who was waiting to be admitted in one of the rows of ambulances in the car park earlier this week.
A nurse at Antrim Area Hospital waves to a patient who was waiting to be admitted in one of the rows of ambulances in the car park earlier this week.

The Department of Health (DoH) reported via its daily update of the Covid-19 dashboard that there 510 new infections across Northern Ireland on Thursday and 12 additional Covid-19 related deaths recorded within the last 24 hours.

The DoH defines a Covid-19 death when someone dies within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.

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The most recent data means the DoH death-toll now stands at 1,166.

The 12 individuals to sadly pass away were in the following age brackets: 40-59 (one); 60-79 (four) and 80 or older (seven).

There were however 146 fewer infections recorded on Thursday December 18 than there were on Wednesday December 17.

The 510 individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday means the total number of individuals to test positive since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 60,797.

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The dashboard also revealed that hospital bed capacity in Northern Ireland is currently at 102%.

There are no available ICU beds in Altnagelvin Area Hospital and the Ulster Hospital.

Of the 116 ICU beds in Northern Ireland, 31 are occupied by Covid-19 patients, 65 by non-Covid-19 patients and 20 are unoccupied.

Related topics:Covid-19ICUNorthern IrelandDepartment of HealthDOH

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