Covid cases in Northern Ireland jump by almost 40% in week as 20 more deaths recorded by Nisra

Cases of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland have jumped almost 40% in a week according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

There were 115,000 positive cases of the virus in NI over the past seven days.

One-in-19 people in Northern Ireland are thought to have had the virus during that time.

The recent jump in Covid-19 infections across the UK is being driven by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus.

There has also been an increase in deaths reported.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency reported 20 more Covid-19 linked deaths in Northern Ireland in the latest weekly update.

There were six reported the previous week.

Friday's update takes the total coronavirus-related deaths recorded by Nisra to 4,684.

Nisra obtains its data from death certificates on which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the death took place or whether the patient tested positive.

Some of the deaths registered in the week ending July 1 could have taken place before that week as they can take days to register

The statistics agency reports its Covid data with a week's lag.

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