On the day it was revealed there have been 41 care home and hospices deaths in Northern Ireland, the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) is spelling out the action it is taking to deal with the issue.

The Irish health service will reveal its plans to the media later today.

Earlier, Minister for Health Simon Harris said the HSE is to start using the national ambulance service to test asymptomatic and symptomatic cases of Covid-19 in nursing homes and residential facilities.

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In the Republic, there have been outbreaks in 254 community settings including clusters in 163 nursing homes.

So far, 302 people have died from the virus in those settings - 62% of all Covid-19 deaths - with 253 of those in nursing homes.

Dr Michael Donnelly, who is a clinical epidemiologist, told BBC Talkback that comparing Northern Ireland's "success" to other countries' strategies is like "apple and oranges, and maybe even bananas".

"In epidemiology, the only meaningful comparison to us is case fatality rates," Dr Donnelly told the programme.

"We must look at age-specific mortality," he said.

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Dr Donnelly explained that countries using different testing methods and recording different data means it is difficult to gauge an accurate picture.

"If we had a proper numerator for the fraction, namely the number of people prevalent in the community who tested positive for the virus, and if we divided that by the deaths, which are underestimated in hospitals and care homes and also in the community, then we would get a fraction we could compare."

The epidemiologist said Northern Ireland is "not really doing very well" if we were to compare those figures in relation to Germany.

Linda Robinson, who is the chief executive of Age NI, says it is important we learn from the latest figures released by Nisra and make it clear that "each of those lives mattered."

"This virus is taking away many loved ones. The numbers are complicated, but it is important we learn from this data," Ms Robinson says.

She told BBC Radio Foyle that these figures reiterate her organisation's resolve to help protect the most vulnerable in society from the virus.

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"For us as an organisation, it's recognising older people need to be shielded, need to be protected...and making sure we target that trend data and are confident in the processes that we are delivering for older people."

Ms Robinson said Age NI will monitor the trajectory of those figures week-on-week and monitor their response accordingly.

"All lives matter, one thing you can't take away from the data is that each of those lives in those numbers mattered," Ms Robinson told the programme.

"We should celebrate those lives," she adds

A further 18 people diagnosed wit Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of recorded deaths to 176.

Belfast remains the area with the most confirmed cases at 719.

The heat map below outlines the areas with the most and least cases.

Another 18 people diagnosed with coronavirus have died in Northern Ireland, according to the Public Health Agency (PHA).

The PHA statistics are mostly hospital deaths. It brings the total number of deaths to 176, according to the PHA.

The total death toll is likely to be significantly higher, as new figures released on Friday showed the total number of deaths by last week was a third higher than previously reported.

Figures from Nisra (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) include all deaths where coronavirus has been recorded on the death certificate.

A further 137 cases have been confirmed by the PHA, bringing the total positive cases to 2,338.

The figures are correct as of 11:00 BST on Friday.

Mark Simpson
BBC News NI

I've heard that the decision by Mid and East Antrim Council to reopen its recycling facilities is being discussed by Stormont ministers on Friday.

It will be interesting to see if what happens at Stormont mirrors what happened in the council, where essentially unionist councillors were in favour, but Sinn Fein are still not happy about it.

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I ran this by the PSNI earlier to see if officers would accept that people travelling to recycling sites were involved in essential travel.

The police said it was a decision for the NI Executive and the councils and that "the PSNI have no comment to make at this time".

Twenty-six bus workers in London have died with Covid-19.

Yesterday, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said passengers should be made to wear face masks when travelling around London.

And today transport workers in Northern Ireland showed their thoughts are with those who have lost their lives.

The DUP's Gordon Lyons says there have been "high levels of adherence" on what are "difficult restrictions" put in place.

"In my opinion it has worked and we are not in a position that we once thought we were going to be in," he tells BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback.

He says the move on restrictions was "not a decision politicians should take in and of themselves - we need to make sure we have the best scientific advice behind actions we take".

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Meanwhile Sinn Féin's Colm Gildernew told the programme there should be no consideration to "relaxing restrictions at this moment in time".

"We got ahead in a sense here," says the chair of Stormont's health committee, adding: "I think people here did recognise that we had a health system already under serious pressure."

But he says that he believes there is "more to be done" in terms of testing and contact tracing.

Northern Ireland International and Leeds United winger Stuart Dallas pays tribute to Norman Hunter.

In a tweet, the Cookstown native described the news as "heartbreaking" and said his thoughts are with all those who loved the tough tackling defender.

The coronavirus has caused immeasurable damage to countless businesses across the country, with many jobs being lost as a result.

In the midst of such economic hardship, it is welcome news to see some jobs being created, as opposed to ending.

At least 20 new jobs are to be created in Londonderry after a video game company announced it is to set up an office in the city.

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Hypixel Studios will establish its headquarters in the north west as part of its acquisition by US publisher Riot Games.

The mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council called it "a hugely significant announcement" for the local economy at a particularly "difficult time".

Michaela Boyle said it was good to have a "positive news story" in the current Covid-19 emergency.

The crisis means that an opening date for the new office cannot currently be set.

Prof Hugo van Woerden from the Public Health Agency says there has been a year's supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used over six weeks.

He told the BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme, "the folk working in that area have done enormously well to secure large amounts of PPE" and have adapted processes through which that can be disseminated.

Prof van Woerden added that the spread of the virus in care homes is due to the "the uniqueness of this particular disease".

"We need to throw everything we have at it and make sure we protect our older people."

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In terms of testing for Covid-19, Prof van Woerden said "laboratories have worked relentlessly, day and night to try and ramp up the testing and undertake the testing".

He added that "there are plans in place to start testing a large number of people as the testing capacity ramps up".

"There’s been a learning curve around doing the tests," he says, adding that there has been "close collaboration around testing" involving "the four chief medical officers".

The Public Health Official adds that "there's been no backlog," in testing.

Northern Ireland's Chief Scientific Officer says we are on a 'knife-edge' when it comes to flattening the curve of the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on Talkback, Professor Ian Young tells the BBC we are around the peak of the first wave of the outbreak and keeping the death toll down in the coming weeks will depend on everyone adhering to social distancing and lockdown guidelines.

Professor Young also says there's no 'one reason' for why the number of fatalities in Northern Ireland is lower than the rest of the UK, but agrees our more rural, less densely populated communities may have played a part.

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Addressing the difference in death toll figures collected by the Public Health Agency (PHA) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra), Professor Young says the daily figures from the PHA might not give the full picture, but are still very useful in how we manage the pandemic going forward.

And he adds that at the moment everyone in Northern Ireland who needs a hospital bed, or a ventilator will have access to one.

Dr Ultan Power, who is a professor of molecular virology at Belfast's Queen's University, tells BBC Talkback that Northern Ireland's coronavirus data is looking "positive".

"Some of the reasons for that is because we were probably a little earlier in implementing and sticking to restrictions required to block the transmission across society," Dr Power told the programme.

However, the professor stressed that although Northern Ireland's attempts to minimise the impact of Covid-19 seems to be working, "even one person dying is too many".

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Dr Power commended the public, on the whole, for adhering to lockdown restrictions and said that these measures have greatly impacted results.

"A virus can only transmit if people interact with people. In Northern Ireland, we have been much better here than other densely populated areas."

"There is still more to go," he adds.

Last night, a familiar sound returned to the streets of the Maiden City.

The Ebrington Factory horn bellowed out across Londonderry in honour of the NHS and other front-line staff in the fight against Covid-19.

The factory horn, which used to be heard across Derry every morning as workers streamed into the shirt factories, returned last night in the midst of the pandemic.

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It certainly brought back memories for former factory girls, Mary White and Irene McCarron, who both described it as an "emotional experience" in these uncertain times.

The pair says it was a fitting tribute to the brave healthcare workers.

"Everyone is behind them, my ceiling is black from the amount of candles I've lit for them," Ms McCarron says.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tell the BBC the coronavirus lockdown is "stressful" for many people and it is important to look after mental health.

Prince William says there is an "ever-increasing need" for people to know where to access help and support.

The duke also reveals how anxious he was when his father, the Prince of Wales, was diagnosed with the virus.

In a wide-ranging interview about the pandemic, mental health and the NHS, Prince William describes how the three-week lockdown had been "frustrating" for many people and "pressure, stress and isolation" had been building up.

Catherine says there's been a focus on physical well-being during the lockdown.

"While that's hugely important we mustn't forget our mental well-being as well and making sure you're reaching out to those people around you that you have access to - even if it's over the phone or online to really make sure you have those conversations," she said.

The royal couple also have plenty of praise for NHS workers, saying they were making the nation proud with their "stoicism and determination".

On Thursday evening members of the Lowry family paid a very special tribute to the NHS from their doorstep.

The musicians, who all live under the same roof in east Belfast, used their talents during the weekly 20:00 clap for heroes to play a rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Mum Kathryn, her son Scott and his girlfriend Megan Royce play in the Ulster Orchestra, while dad Clifford is a peripatetic teacher.

The family say it was important to do as they have other family members working on the frontline in both the Ulster and Antrim Hospitals.

The public will not be told to wear face masks to stop coronavirus unless the government's scientists say it is necessary, a minister has said.

Grant Shapps said the evidence on whether masks work was "quite mixed".

It comes after London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for people to wear non-medical face masks - such as scarves or bandanas - in public as "additional protection" to social distancing.

Image source, Reuters

Masks have been made compulsory in some places, including in New York.

On Friday, Mr Khan - who has urged the UK government to change its guidelines on face masks - said masks should be worn when people cannot keep two metres apart such as on public transport or while shopping.

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Leeds United legend Norman Hunter has died in hospital aged 76 after contracting coronavirus.

The tough-tackling centre-back, nicknamed 'Bites Yer Legs', was a key player in Leeds' most successful era.

He won two league titles during a 14-year first-team career at Elland Road, and was a non-playing member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad.

Hunter was admitted to hospital on 10 April after testing positive for coronavirus.

Leeds said Hunter's death leaves "a huge hole" in the family of the club.

"His legacy will never be forgotten and our thoughts are with Norman's family and friends at this very difficult time," the club said.

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Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill says new statistics released by Nisra are a "truer reflection of the scale of the pandemic in our community".

The data is the first breakdown of figures from Covid-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland.

It includes the number of suspected Covid-19 related death, whereas the Public Health Agency uses a different methodology.

Nisra reports 157 deaths, while the PHA reports 118 - both agencies' figures relate to the same time frame.

Mrs O'Neill said: "We know that older people are particularly susceptible to the devastating effects of Covid-19, and our care homes are very vulnerable at this time.

"Every death as a result of coronavirus is a tragedy and it is right that we recognise every life lost to this disease."

The Sinn Féin leader also emphasised the need to "stay at home; observe social distancing; and keep washing your hands".

"These actions will help to save more lives," she added.