Derry and Strabane records no coronavirus deaths for second consecutive week

For the second consecutive week there have been no new reported deaths from COVID-19 in Derry and Strabane.
495 people have died in Derry and Strabane of all causes; 27 died from COVID-19.495 people have died in Derry and Strabane of all causes; 27 died from COVID-19.
495 people have died in Derry and Strabane of all causes; 27 died from COVID-19.

According to new data published by the Northern Ireland Research and Statistics Agency (NISRA) on Friday, of 15 registered deaths in Derry and Strabane between the weeks ending May 22 and May 29 none were related to COVID-19.

NISRA reported this morning that 495 people in total have died in Derry and Strabane from all causes in 2020 so far: 5.45 per cent of all deaths (27) in the district have been directly related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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The statistics highlight the lethal course of the virus in Derry and Strabane over six weeks from the beginning of April.

On the week ending April 3 there were three coronavirus deaths in Derry and Strabane.

This tragic toll rose to four deaths on the week ending April 10 and then doubled to eight on the week ending April 17.

It then began to fall back to five on the week ending April 24; four on the week ending May 1; two on the week ending May 8; and one on the week ending May 15.

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While there have been no COVID-19 deaths in Derry and Strabane for a fortnight and none in Fermanagh and Omagh in three weeks coronavirus continues to devastate in other parts of the north.

A hundred and two people have died in the north over the past two weeks with 49 of those deaths occurring in the the last week for which data is available.

Six people died in Causeway Coast and Glens and five people died in Mid Ulster, our neighbouring areas, in the week ending May 29.

Across the north the NISRA data show that 36 deaths involving COVID-19 occurred in the last week, from May 23 to May 29, bringing the total of COVID-19 related deaths to 757. However, the figure rises from 36 to 49 when all deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate are included.

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Of the 757 deaths in total, 381 (50.3%) took place in hospital, 328 (43.3%) in care homes, eight (1.1%) in hospices and 40 (5.3%) at residential addresses or other locations.

The 336 deaths which occurred in care homes and hospices involved 78 separate establishments. The comparative number of deaths reported daily by the Department of Health to May 29 was 528.

These figures are based on patients having previously tested positive for the virus, whereas NISRA figures are based on the information entered on death certificates, completed by medical professionals.

They may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus. Further analysis, which includes deaths of care home residents in hospital shows that of the 396 deaths of care home residents involving COVID-19 in the year to date to May 29 2020, 82.8% (328) occurred in a care home, with the remaining 68 occurring in hospital.

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On this basis deaths of care home residents account for 52.3% of all COVID-19 related deaths; however, no assumptions can be made in relation to where or when the deceased contracted the disease.

Separate analyses based on the date of death registration, shows that the provisional number of total deaths registered in the north in the week ending May 29 2020 (week 21) was 316, 9 fewer than in week 20 and 37 more than the 5-year average of 279.

Over the last nine weeks in total, 939 ‘excess deaths’ (deaths above the average for the corresponding period in previous years) have been registered in the north, with the number of ‘excess deaths’ in the year to date to May 29 totalling 680.

COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate for 49 (15.5%) of the 316 deaths registered in week 21, the fifth consecutive weekly fall in the number of registered COVID-19 related deaths and bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths registered in the calendar year 2020 to 754.

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Persons aged 75 and over accounted for two-thirds (66.8%) of all deaths and 80.0% of COVID-19 related deaths registered this calendar year up to 29th May.

For COVID-19 related deaths, those with an address in Belfast Local Government District (LGD) accounted for 226 (30.0%) of the 754 deaths registered in the calendar year to 29th May.

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