Tragic Owen Mor death as cases in Derry/Strabane rise to thirty

Owen Mor Care Home. Six COVID-19 cases confirmed.

The tragic death occured as the Public Health Agency (PHA) reported that 30 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now been registered in Derry and Strabane

A spokesperson said: “Sadly a resident has passed away, who was confirmed COVID-19 positive on March 30, 2020. Our sympathies are with the family.

“Management focus is on safe staffing levels supported by the WHSCT, to ensure safe and effective care. Intensive monitoring of residents with and without COVID-19 is also in place. We now have 5 residents confirmed COVID-19.

“Even though this is a cruel, serious infectious disease, we are also observing positive changes. Staff of all grades and all roles remain vigilant and dedicated as ever.”

Today the PHA confimred that testing had resulted in 85 new positive cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the north to 774.

To date, 36 people who have tested positive in the north have sadly died.

Thursday’s daily surveillance report showed that over the previous 24 hours there had been 85 new confirmed cases; and 449 more tests.

Six new deaths were sadly confirmed yesterday.

Thirty confirmed cases have been reported in Derry and Strabane compared with 226 in Belfast.

There have been 19 lab confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Causeway Coast and Glens area.

However, of the 6899 tests in the north sofar only 677 have been conducted in the Western Trust, still the lowest number of tests in any health authority, compared with 2639 in the Belfast Trust, the highest number of tests.

There have been 4221 confirmed cases in Ireland - 3447 in the south and 774 in the north.

One hundred and twenty-one people have died from the illness in Ireland - 85 in the south and 36 in the north.

However, these totals for the country as a whole are expected to rise when the Health Protection Surveillance Centre in Dublin releases its daily data this evening.

New figures for Donegal are also due to be released by the HPSC tonight.

The latest confirmed figures for Donegal are those that had been analysed by midnight on Monday.

Sixty-three cases (2.1% of all cases in the 26 counties) of COVID-19 had been confirmed by that date and time.