Thirty-six Northern Ireland deaths linked to Covid-19 announced in latest weekly bulletin issued by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)

The fatalities happened in the week August 14 to 20, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

They take the total number of coronavirus-linked deaths recorded by Nisra to 3,140.

The Nisra figure is drawn from different data sources than the toll reported by Stormont’s Department of Health.

It is always higher than the department’s total, as it provides a broader picture of the impact of Covid-19.

The statistics agency reports its Covid-19 data with a week lag.

The Department of Health’s death toll stood at 2,291 on August 13.

The department’s statistics focus primarily on hospital deaths and only include people who have tested positive for the virus.

Nisra obtains its data from death certificates on which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the death took place or whether the patient tested positive.

Of the 3,140 deaths recorded by Nisra by August 13, 2,097 (66.8%) occurred in hospitals, 794 (25.3%) in care homes, 14 (0.4%) in hospices and 235 (7.5%) at residential addresses or other locations.

Nisra reported that, up to August 20, the deaths of 1,039 care home residents were linked to Covid-19.

The figure includes deaths that occurred in care homes and care home residents who died in hospital, having been taken there for treatment.

Care home residents make up just over 33% of deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, according to Nisra.

In the week to August 20, 43 coronavirus-linked deaths were officially registered in Northern Ireland.

This is a slightly different figure from the death occurrence number.

Some of the fatalities registered in the week August 14 to August 20 could have occurred before that week, as deaths can take a number of days to register.

Those aged 75 and over accounted for 75.5% of the 3,129 Covid-19 related deaths registered between March 19 2020 and August 20 2021.