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More than 900 cases of coronavirus have been identified in the North in the last 24 hours.
According to figures released by the Northern Ireland (DoH) Department of Health on Thursday afternoon, 923 more people have tested positive for the virus.
One more coronavirus-related death was reported, bringing the total recorded by the Department to 587.
The Northern Executive will meet Thursday afternoon to discuss the need for more restrictions as the number of cases continues to rise. Among the proposals expected to be considered by ministers are an increase in fines for non-compliance with regulations and an expansion of the use of face covers.
It is the second time in less than a week that the number of new positive cases of Covid-19 in the North exceeds 900.
On Friday it reported its highest number of daily positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with 934 people confirmed as carriers of the virus.
In the last seven days, 4,674 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the North, out of a total of 17,110 since the start of the pandemic.
Derry and Strabane remain the area of greatest concern, with 1,062 cases diagnosed in the past seven days. The number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the last seven days has risen to 705.
New restrictions came into effect on Monday aimed at limiting the spread of the virus in the Derry and Strabane City District Council area.
Hospitality venues are closed to everyone except for takeout and delivery services and outdoor service, and people have been advised to avoid traveling in and out of the area.
Clusters
North Korea’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Ian Young, told the Assembly’s health committee on Thursday that more than half of the cases in identifiable clusters in Derry and Strabane were associated with the hotel sector.
In Belfast 1,171 people were confirmed to have the virus in the past seven days, but with a population larger than Derry and Strabane, the rate per 100,000 is still lower at 343. Rates are also high in Newry, Morne and Down and Mid Ulster.
A total of 120 coronavirus patients are now being treated in Northern hospitals, with 15 people in intensive care.
Asked by Alliance MLA, Paula Bradshaw, about how and where the virus was spreading, Professor Young said that initially the evidence suggested that most cases were a consequence of domestic transmission, so the restrictions focused on mixing domestic.
“Currently, the largest group of cases that are being identified is described as community transmission,” he said.
“Community transmission is a fairly broad basket that includes a wide range of settings. . . which will include the hospitality sector and sports facilities.
“Often times what the contact tracing service finds is that when there is a group, people have been mixing not only in an individual setting but in multiple settings, for example a group associated with a sports club, in the Research may turn out that individuals have mixed in the sports context, but subsequently also in a social context, either in the hospitality sector or in the domestic sphere.
“Decisions are difficult, they are not easy and the evidence is not easy,” he said.
Meanwhile, Northern Economy Minister Diane Dodds warned that an earlier prediction that the number of unemployed people in Northern Ireland could rise to 100,000 by the end of 2020 now seemed “optimistic” as it had not been based on a further hardening of the coronavirus. regulations.
“The consequences of new restrictions will be the loss of jobs and an increase in unemployment,” he said.
Ms Dodds reiterated the ministers’ call for support from the UK Treasury if there is to be another lockdown, saying that Northern Ireland could not absorb the financial shock.
“We just don’t have the financial power as an executive to support businesses in Northern Ireland in the way that we would have through schemes that were introduced nationally earlier in the year,” she said. Additional reports – PA
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