Person aged under 40 dies with Covid-19 in NI
A person aged under 40 has died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said.
It brings the toll to 558.
An additional 74 people tested positive.
6,299 The total number of confirmed cases
The total number of confirmed cases is 6,299.
It was the first death to be confirmed by the department for four days.
The vast majority of fatalities are among the older population.
One Covid-19 patient is being ventilated in intensive care in hospital in Northern Ireland, the Department of Health update said.
A total of eight hospital beds are occupied by people with the disease.
The latest death was of Andrea Maftei, 32, originally from Romania but working in Ballymena, Co Antrim.
Cafe Nobel said its staff were “astounded” and “heartbroken”.
It said in an online post: “Andrea worked with us for twelve fantastic years, not only was she a trusted employee but a very loyal friend.” The cafe said environmental health, the Public Health Agency and contact tracing bodies had concluded that the illness was contracted through a community-based outbreak and not through its food premises.
It added: “Unfortunately, Andrea has been taken from us under horrendous circumstances.”
Three outbreaks of the illness in care homes have been recorded and five are suspected.
Four coronavirus-linked deaths occurred in Northern Ireland in the latest week subjected to statistical analysis, unrelated figures showed.
The fatalities in the period August 1 to 7 took the total recorded by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) to 859.
The Nisra data gives a fuller picture of Covid-19 fatalities than the daily figures released by the department, which focus primarily on hospital deaths and only include people who have tested positive for the virus.
Nisra obtains its statistics using death certificates in which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the fatality occurred. The person may or may not have tested positive for the virus.
This month Health Minister Robin Swann said some people had stopped following basic guidance to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The daily average of new diagnoses has increased since last month.
Mr Swann has expressed concern about complacency as many lockdown measures are eased.