NI hospital admissions due to COVID ‘increasing very slowly’

The average number of new positive tests per day over the seven days to Friday across the north was 66.

The vast majority of those tested were negative for the virus, with just 1.45% testing positive.

There were 17 new admissions across the 11 Council areas, and all the indicators generally show a further increase in transmission in the week to Friday. The seven day rolling average for new cases has increased, and the main concerns are currently in relation to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon and Belfast, where no predominant cluster has been identified.

At present around 10% of new cases are in the over 60s, whereas at the peak of the epidemic 40–50% of cases were in this age group. As a result, hospital admissions are increasing very slowly but are still at a low level in comparison to the first wave.