Two Covid-19 linked deaths in NI in latest week analysed by statisticians

The fatalities in the week June 5-11 took the total number of coronavirus-related deaths recorded by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) to 2,979.

The Nisra data provides a broader picture of the impact of Covid-19 than the death toll reported by Stormont’s Department of Health.

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.

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

The department’s death toll stood at 2,155 on June 11.

Of the 2,979 deaths recorded by Nisra by June 11, 1,972 (66%) occurred in hospitals, 776 (26%) in care homes, 14 (0.5%) in hospices and 217 (7%) at residential addresses or other locations.

Nisra reported that up to June 11, the deaths of 1,013 care home residents were linked to Covid-19.

The figure includes the 776 deaths that took place in care homes, and a further 237 care home residents who died in hospital having been taken there for treatment.

Care home residents make up about 34% of deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, according to Nisra.

In the week of June 5-11, two coronavirus-linked deaths were officially registered in Northern Ireland, some of which took place before that week as deaths can take a number of days to register.