Coronavirus: NI reports 65 new Covid-19 cases as weekend updates return

A medical worker walking in front of an ambulance Image copyright Reuters

The Department of Health has said a further 65 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland.

The figure covers tests carried out in a 24-hour period up to 10:00 BST on Friday.

The department stopped issuing updates on its online dashboard over the weekend earlier in the summer.

These updates resumed from Saturday, but only for information on the number of tests carried out and the proportion which came back positive.

No information was released on Saturday regarding any further deaths, instead this data will be published on Monday.

There have now been a total of 6,364 people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland.

The latest data released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) said the disease had featured on a total of 859 people's death certificates in Northern Ireland by 7 August.

The Department of Health's death toll by the same date (7 August) was 556 - more than 300 fewer.

The department's statistics are calculated differently from Nisra and are based on a patient having previously tested positive for the virus.

However, the department's toll has now risen to 558 after it recorded a death on 8 August and a further death of the patient aged under 40 on Thursday 13 August.

On Thursday, the Department for Health reported that the R number, which represents the number of individuals who, on average, will be infected by a single person with coronavirus, was estimated to be between 1.2 and 2.0.