Six further Covid-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland
Six people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in Northern Ireland, according to the Department of Health.
Three of the deaths occurred outside the last 24-hour reporting period.
It brings the official death toll, as recorded by the department, to 1,135 – however, that figure is higher when deaths in all community settings have been accounted for.
The latest figures also show there have been 486 new cases, out of 2,969 individuals tested.
In the last seven days, there have been 3,292 positive cases, with numbers highest in Mid and East Antrim (416) Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (400) and Newry, Mourne and Down (388).
Hospital bed occupancy is currently at 104%. There are currently 444 people with Covid-19 being treated in hospitals across Northern Ireland – 33 of them in intensive care and 24 on ventilators.
There are also 87 confirmed outbreaks in care homes, which is 22 fewer than compared with the previous seven-day period.
Paul Reilly speaks to Belfast virologist Dr Connor Bamford on the new variant of Covid-19 which has been found in England and Scotland: