Derry records lowest Covid-19 rate in the North

Derry has reclaimed its position as having the lowest Covid rate per 100,000 people in the North of Ireland.

The area of Derry City & Strabane District Council saw another fall in Covid cases that had seen it move from the third-lowest rate to the lowest after recording a figure of 1011.9 per 100,000.

Derry had, over Christmas and New Year, seen sharp rises in cases that saw it post the highest rate.

Although the figures posted by the Department of Health are nowhere near as low as Derry had recorded last autumn, the fact the rate appears to be diminishing on a weekly basis is cause for encouragement.

The second-lowest rate in the North was posted by neighbouring Causeway Coast & Glens with 10.14.9 per 100,000. The highest rate was found at Amagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon (2123.5) while the overall rate for the North was 1647.7 per 100,000.

The postcode rate showed BT48 recording a figure of 938.1 per 100,000 while BT47 posted a rate of 993.2.

Altnagelvin Hospital's ICU bed occupancy rate saw 45.45 per cent of beds with Covid-19 patients with 27.27 per cent being filled by non-Covid patients – the same percentage for unoccupied ICU beds.

In terms of overall bed occupancy at Altnagelvin, 9.47 per cent of beds were for Covid-19 patients with 85.24 for non-Covid patients.

A figure of 5.29 per cent was recorded for those awaiting admission while Altnagelvin itself was running at 1.95 per cent over-capacity.