There have been 12 further Covid-related deaths reported by the Department of Health today (Wednesday).
Seven of these occurred in the last 24 hours, with five outside that timeframe – according to the official dashboard – which has the overall total now at 1,085.
There has been no further deaths in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon borough, where the total number of lives lost remains 112. Similarly, there has been no additional deaths in the Newry, Mourne and Down district, where the total remains 70.
There were a further 483 cases reported in that timeframe, with 39 in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon and a further 50 in Newry, Mourne and Down.
A total of 3,220 individuals were tested.
There are 425 – up four – people now in hospital as a result of the virus, 31 – up three – of whom are in intensive care units.
There are currently 22 – up one – ICU beds available in Northern Ireland.
Thirty-four patients are in Craigavon – down one. To date, 614 patients have been discharged from the Co. Armagh hospital.
There are nine – no change – Covid patients in Daisy Hill, with 10 – down one – in Lurgan Hospital.
Meanwhile, Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín has announced a second phase of the Covid-19 Charities Fund.
Charities are being urged to start making application preparations ahead of the opening of the £11.7million fund on 6 January 2021.
The Minister said: “Organisational support will be available between mid-December and the opening date to give applicants time to prepare their applications. This will provide charities with time to collect the necessary information and consider their application with the help of experts.
“We have more than 8,000 charities that do invaluable work and provide essential support to people when they need it most. This funding will help those charities facing extreme financial pressures as a result of curtailment to their fundraising activities to continue to deliver critical services.”
