Covid-19: Dementia and Alzheimer's most common pre-existing conditions linked to deaths

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease was the most common pre-existing condition linked with Covid-19 deaths in Northern Ireland, a new report has found.

The conditions appeared in 767 of 3,007 Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic began, just over a quarter.

The figures were published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).

The next most common pre-existing conditions were hypertensive diseases (635) and diabetes (632).

An underlying cause of death is classed as a disease or injury which initiated the events leading to death, according to Nisra.

There were no pre-existing conditions recorded for 311 of the 3,007 Covid-19 deaths during the pandemic in Northern Ireland (10.3%).

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A further 423 Covid-19 related deaths were registered during October and November 2021 but the Nisra report said there is insufficient information at present to identify the number of pre-existing conditions over this period.

Five more Covid-19-related deaths were been reported in Northern Ireland on Wednesday.

Another 1,933 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, up from 1,658 on Tuesday.

Nisra's figures are based on mentions of the virus on death certificates, so people may or may not have previously tested positive for the virus.

The Department of Health's daily figures are based on a positive test result having been recorded.