Residents relocated from Belfast nursing home after 'ongoing concerns'

Residents are being relocated from Clifton Nursing Home in Belfast after what Health Minister Robin Swann said were "ongoing concerns" relating partly to its management of a Covid-19 outbreak.

He added: "Senior nursing and other staff from Belfast Trust are and willcontinue to be on the ground in the home to ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents.

"This will be essential to give the necessary time to move residents at a safepace and in consultation with them and their families."There has been a further drop in the number of coronavirus-related deaths at care homes in Northern Ireland.

It comes as 61 Covid-19-related deaths occurred during the week ending May 15, down from 80 in the previous week and 119 in the week before that, according to figures compiled by the Northern Ireland Statistical and Research Agency.

Most (32) occurred in care homes, which represents a drop from 38 the previous week and 72 in the week before.

Of the remaining deaths, 27 were in hospitals, one in a hospice and one at aresidential address.

The 309 Covid-related deaths in care homes and hospices involved 76 separate establishments, Nisra said.

According to its figures there have been 664 Covid-19-related deaths inNorthern Ireland so far.

The comparative number of deaths reported daily by the Department of Health for the same period was 472.

These figures are based on mainly hospital patients having previously testedpositive for the virus, whereas Nisra figures relate to information entered ondeath certificates, completed by medical professionals.

They may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus.

The latest figures from Nisra recorded similar numbers of men and women with Covid-19-related deaths while the 75 years and over age group account for 79.3% of those deaths.