Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Covid claims youngest life to date in NI
Male aged 19 or under among nine more fatalities due to virus Executive expected to give green light to reopen schools
THERE have been nine further Covid-19 linked deaths in Northern Ireland as hospitals reach 103% occupancy, it was revealed yesterday.
As the region continues to contend with the pandemic, the latest data from the Department of Health shows the pressure hospitals are under.
At 9am on October 27, there were 2,979 occupied beds, some 76 over the 2,903 capacity.
A f ur th er 221 were waiting to be admitted.
Of the patients in hospitals, some 352 have tested positive for Covid-19, with 44 in intensive care.
The latest nine deaths include the youngest so far in Northern Ireland, a male patient aged 19 or under. On the same day the department recorded 840 new cases of the virus.
There have been 36,394 confirmed cases in the region, including 6,255 in the past seven days, and 680 deaths recorded by health officials.
The figures came after a senior doctor claimed this week has been the “worst in the NHS in living memor y ”. Dr Tom Black, chairman of the British Medical Association’s Northern Ireland Council, said hospitals are being hit with a “triple whammy” of rising numbers of Covid-19 cases, lack of available staff and winter pressures.
However, the BBC has reported there has been a 49% drop in Covid cases in the Derry and Strabane Council area, one of the worsthit parts of the UK recently. The drop in positive tests comes three weeks after further restrictions on movement were put into place in the area aiming at slowing the spread of the virus. The Executive is set to decide today if schools will reopen following the extended Halloween holidays.
Schools across Northern Ireland closed on October 19 as part of tighter restrictions to curb the spread.
Pupils were given an extra week for half-term and it is understood Stormont intends to give the reopening of schools the green light.
It will mean students will return to their classrooms on November 2 as the Department of Education said it remains the Executive’s “intention schools will reopen”.
Meanwhile, concern has been expressed about a potential risk to the supply of pharmaceutical drugs to Northern Ireland following Brexit. L ord Te verson said th e vast majority of medicines used here are imported either from or via Great Britain, and often originate in the EU. The peer, who chairs the House of Lords EU Environment subcommittee, said pharmaceutical companies do not feel they have the information they need about the transportation of medicines.
Under the protocol in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, Northern Ireland will remain in the EU single market for goods when the transition period ends.
That will require additional regulatory checks for animal-based food products entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
Lord Teverson has written to Tory Health Mi n i s t e r E d w a r d Argar asking for reassurances.
The peer posed seven questions to the minister and wants the answers by November 11.
These i nclude what steps the Government has taken to ensure the consistent, affordable supply of a full range of prescription medicines in Northern Ireland from January 1.