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Nearly 1,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the north on Friday in the largest daily increase since the pandemic began.
According to the daily statistical bulletin published by the Northern Department of Health (DoH), 934 people tested positive for the virus in the 24 hours through Friday.
The figure is more than double the previous highest number of daily cases, which was established on Wednesday.
Northern Health Minister Robin Swann described the increase as “unprecedented”, telling the Assembly that “warnings about the resurgence of the Covid-19 threat are coming true in the starkest terms.”
Public health expert Dr. Gabriel Scally said the numbers represented an “incredible leap” and were “shocking and very disappointing.”
He said that the figures suggested that “something has gone very wrong and I think that, in addition to trying to solve it urgently, a review of the strategy is necessary.”
He said the Executive should “immediately commission an external opinion on how the coronavirus control effort has been carried out in Northern Ireland.
“They should urgently review what their arrangements are for controlling the pandemic in Northern Ireland because, at the moment, it is certainly not working.”
Dr Scally, who has always advocated an all-island approach to tackling the pandemic, said he “had no doubt” that “if there had been a unified approach, north and south, that it had a well thought out strategy, the situation will be completely different. ”
“I am very disappointed that the North-South MOU has not resulted in integrated action, an integrated approach, an integrated strategy,” he said.
Health ministers from both sides of the border and Sinn Féin Deputy Minister Declan Kearney discussed the importance of a cross-border response to the pandemic at a North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) Health and Food Safety meeting on Friday.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the ministers said they were “committed to drawing on relevant experience and learnings from the early phases of the pandemic” and would “continue to exchange views to encourage uniformity in their approach, always as possible “. ”
New cases reported on Friday include 201 in the city of Derry and Strabane district council, where wide-ranging restrictions aimed at addressing the dramatic increase in infections in the area are due to take effect on Monday.
The measures include strict limits on the hotel industry and an instruction to avoid traveling in and out of the area.
The case rate in Derry and Strabane is now one of the worst in the British Isles, 423 per 100,000.
Also of concern are the growing number of infections in Belfast, where 191 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, and Newry Morne and Down, which had 182 new cases.
North Korea’s chief medical officer, Dr. Michael McBride, told the BBC that further restrictions are likely in the coming weeks if the number of cases continues to rise, and he did not rule out a short and intensive period of lockdown.
“I think we have to plan and prepare and analyze the options around the so-called circuit breaker,” he said.
One more coronavirus-related death was reported on Friday, bringing the department’s total to 582.
The total number of positive Covid-19 cases in the north is now 12,886. In the last seven days, 2,623 positive cases have been registered, which includes 1,147 among people between 20 and 39 years old.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), which records all deaths that mention the coronavirus on the death certificate, said on Friday that the number of such deaths was 901 as of September 25.
Additional reports: PA
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