Coronavirus: No Covid-19 patients being treated in ICUs in NI

There are no Covid-19 patients receiving treatment in Northern Ireland ICU units.

It is the first time it has dropped to this level since the Department of Health began publishing the figure at the start of April.

The daily figures show that there has been one additional death in Northern Ireland, as well as two additional cases in the past 24 hours.

There was one person with Covid-19 receiving treatment in ICU on Friday.

Current occupation

There is a total capacity for 95 ICU patients in Northern Ireland.

There are currently 60 beds occupied by patients who are not recorded as having Covid-19.

The peak for Covid-19 occupied beds in Northern Ireland came on 10 April, when there were 54 patients with the virus being treated.

At that point, there was a higher capacity for ICU beds due to the temporary Nightingale Hospital set up at the City Hospital in Belfast.

There has been a steady decline in the number of Covid-19 ICU patients in recent weeks, and since the start of the month there has not been more than 10 on any one day.

Concerns in the Republic

Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland recorded another six deaths related to the coronavirus on Saturday.

In addition to this there has been 23 new cases.

Speaking on Saturday, Irish chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said the number of new cases of Covid-19 in younger people was now a real concern and a worrying trend, RTÉ reports.

Dr Holohan said that of the 23 new cases reported on Saturday, 10 - or 43% - were in people aged under 35. A further eight cases were in people aged between 35-54.