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NORTHERN IRELAND’s Health Department has said that 902 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the last 24 hours.
It follows 1,080 new cases confirmed yesterday in all six Northern Ireland counties. No more deaths have been reported.
Cases of the virus have risen in recent weeks, dwarfing the numbers seen at the start of the pandemic.
Derry and Strabane remains the area most affected by population, with a seven-day rate of 872.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. Belfast is next at 407.1. All areas of Northern Ireland, with the exception of Central and East Antrim, have seven-day rates above 100.
The alarming spike has forced the Stormont Executive to increase fines for failing to comply with restrictions and the expansion of places where masks are required.
Yesterday, Northern Ireland Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill confirmed that she was self-isolating after a family member tested positive for the virus. Today, he said he had tested negative for the virus.
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Earlier this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke by phone about the situation in Northern Ireland. The Taoiseach urged Johnson to financially support Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 restrictions.
In a statement yesterday to the Stormont Assembly, Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann said that “the situation is dire and increasingly, daily, if not hourly.”
He said: “I am advised that further restrictions are likely to be required for Northern Ireland in the very near future, should positive cases continue on their current upward trajectory. This will be necessary to reduce hospitalizations and loss of life and to protect our health and social care system from being overwhelmed. “
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