Covid: More than 5% of NI population tested positive in early July

Covid infections are estimated to be at their highest level since spring

An estimated 107,600 people in Northern Ireland tested positive for Covid-19 in the week ending 6 July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.

The figure represents 5.86% of the population - half a percentage point higher than the previous week.

The ONS said the figure was based on the percentage of people who tested positive using a recorded PCR test.

In total 3,498,700 people in the United Kingdom had coronavirus in the the same period.

That figure represents a 29% increase from about 2.7 million the week before.

The most recent weekly figures from the Department of Health show hospital admissions and the number of inpatients with Covid-19 have fallen on the previous week.

The latest ONS figures mean about 5.4% of the UK population had the virus in the week ending 6 July.

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This is the highest estimate for total infections since mid-April, but is still below the record high of 4.9 million that was reached at the end of March.

The ONS said it was likely caused by infections compatible with Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.

In England, an estimated 2,873,600 tested positive for Covid in the week ending 6 July, amounting to a little more than 5% of the population.

Meanwhile in Scotland that number is 334,000, more than 6% of the population, and in Wales it was 183,500, more than 6% of the population.