Coronavirus: NI Covid-19 pandemic death toll rises to 250

The number of Covid-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland has risen to 250, the health minister has said.

Eight more deaths occurred in the past 24 hours, but another 26 over previous days have been added to the total because of counting system problems.

It means the death toll has risen by 34 from 216 fatalities reported on Tuesday.

Robin Swann said he had asked officials to investigate after figures on Sunday recorded only one more Covid-19 death.

Revised modelling has indicated NI could see 1,500 deaths in the first 20 weeks of the pandemic.

Figures released by the Department of Health on Wednesday show there are currently 675 people being treated for Covid-19, while more than 2,500 people with suspected or confirmed cases have been discharged from hospital since the outbreak began.

The figures also show there are currently 36 people in intensive care with Covid-19 - a drop from 42 on Sunday - while 40 intensive care beds remain available.

There have been 57 coronavirus outbreaks in care homes.

At the executive's daily press conference, Mr Swann said he appreciated the overall number of deaths recorded by health trusts in NI was "significant".

He said that due to the length of time it takes to register a death, there had been a delay in some deaths being reported.

"It's not that the deaths were never going to be reported, but it's the timeline," said the health minister.

"I appreciate that this latest total will cause some alarm, given the scale of the increase from yesterday.

"These daily figures are compiled for surveillance purposes to help us track the virus and keep the public as informed as possible."

Daily figures would always be subject to some degree of revision, as deaths were being officially registered at different times in busy hospitals, he added.

Speaking at Stormont, the minister confirmed that a rigorous programme of testing, tracing and tracking would now be implemented in Northern Ireland.

He said an expansion of testing would include:

Testing in care homes would also be increased, he said, while there would also be testing and surveillance in GP practices and emergency departments.

"We have never walked these paths before and, sadly, there will be more deaths in the days and weeks ahead," Mr Swann told the press briefing.

He said there could not be a "quick fix" but, speaking cautiously, he did believe there had been an improvement in infection rates.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said health officials had recorded a "flattening" of the Covid-19 infection curve.

"We have seen a flattening of the curve, the number of admissions to hospitals has begun to stabilise and decline, and we have seen the number of admissions to ICU stabilise, flatten and begin to dip," said Dr McBride.

However, he warned that it was still too early for people to "drop their guard".

Dr McBride added that the figures being reported currently were not a "full reflection" of the total number of deaths from Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.

"There will be excess deaths that will not be reported in the data where Covid-19 has been the cause of death yet," he said.

It would be some weeks before those figures would become clear, added the chief medical officer.

In other developments: