Derry/Strabane COVID-19 rate back to pre-Christmas level and lower than anywhere bar Ards and North Down

The prevalence rate has fallen eleven days in a row and is now back to the level it was on December 23 before it spiked alarmingly over the festive period.

Between January 7 and January 13, there were 431 confirmed positive cases of the virus in the district giving a seven day rate per 100,000 of 286.1, down from 316.6 on Wednesday.

By comparison, on December 23 the rate locally was 228.3 per 100,000. It quickly trebled after this as a result of the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions before Christmas.

Two women over 80 have died with COVID-19 in residential care setting in Derry/Strabane

The average prevalence rate for the north over the same seven days was 412.9 per 100,000 - lower than the figure of 442.4 posted on Wednesday.

Rates are higher in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (623.4), Mid Ulster (611.4), Newry, Mourne and Down (533.9), Fermanagh and Omagh (393.7), Antrim and Newtownabbey (379.2), Mid and East Antrim (374.5), Belfast (334.7), Causeway Coast and Glens (302.9) and Lisburn and Castlereagh (286.6).

Only Ards and North Down (231.2) has a lower rate than Derry/Strabane.

The daily change in the cumulative number of patients with a positive test in Derry and Strabane between January 12 and 13 was 46.

In total 10,218 people have now tested positive for the illness in Derry and Strabane.