Coronavirus: 71 care home residents died in North in single week

Seventy-one people with coronavirus died in care homes in the North in a single week, according to the most recent data from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

Figures released by NISRA on Friday recorded 115 deaths involving coronavirus, also known as Covid 19, in the week ending May 1st. Almost 62 per cent of these - or 71 deaths - were in care homes. Thirty-nine occurred in hospital, four at home, and one in a hospice.

In total, NISRA noted 516 deaths involving coronavirus from the beginning of the outbreak until May 1st. This figure is 35 per cent higher than the 383 fatalities recorded in the same period by the North’s department of health.

Almost half of these deaths - 253, or 49 per cent - took place in hospital, with 45 per cent (232) in care homes, four (0.8 per cent) in hospices and 27 (5.2 per cent) at residential addresses or other locations.

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The 236 deaths in care homes and hospices involved 66 separate establishments.

Figures released by the department on Friday showed that there have been 128 acute respiratory outbreaks in care homes in the North since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Of these, 76 have been confirmed as Covid-19 while 35 are suspected cases of the virus. Seventeen outbreaks are defined as “closed”, meaning that there have been no new cases for 14 days.

Deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill said the figures exposed the “serious battle” within care homes and called for a programme of universal testing for all care home residents and staff.

“No stone must be left unturned in supporting care homes right now and supporting the staff and supporting the residents,” she said.

Northern Ireland releases two separate sets of data on coronavirus fatalities. The department of health figures are released daily and are based on patients who have tested positive for the virus, and mainly cover deaths in hospital settings.

Additional deaths

Five further coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the department on Friday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 427.

The data for the last 24 hours includes two deaths during that period, and three which occurred previously but had not been reported.

An additional 1,202 people were tested, resulting in 38 new confirmed cases of the virus. The number of cases of coronavirus in the North now stands at 4,022.

NISRA figures are slower to produce and are based on the information entered on death certificates completed by medical professionals. There may or may not be a positive test for coronavirus.

Separate data released by NISRA and based on the date a death was registered showed that the provisional number of total deaths registered in the week ending May 1st was 427.

This was 43 fewer than the previous week, but 107 more than the five-year average of 320.

Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate for 29 per cent, or 124 of the deaths registered in the week ending May 1st, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths registered in 2020 to 494.

NISRA said that over the last five weeks, 704 “excess deaths” - deaths above the average for the corresponding period in previous years - have been registered in Northern Ireland.

Males accounted for 50.4 per cent of all coronavirus-related deaths until May 1st, while people aged 75 and over accounted for 77 per cent of all such deaths registered in the same period.

There are 483 care homes in Northern Ireland, caring for a maximum of around 16,000 residents.