The Covid-19 death toll has reached over 2,000 in Northern Ireland, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra).
Coronavirus was a factor in 2,019 deaths that occurred up to January 8th.
145 deaths were registered in the first week of 2021, which is the highest number of weekly Covid-19 related deaths since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health reports a further 26 further Covid-related deaths, with 21 occurring in the past 24 hours. Nisra’s figures are based on mentions of the virus on death certificates, while the Department of Health counts count deaths reported by health trusts where the deceased had a positive test for Covid-19.
Another 1,052 new cases of the virus have been detected in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland’s hospitals are at 97 per cent capacity with 840 Covid-19 patients in hospitals there, 63 of whom are in intensive care.
Visiting arrangements to Northern Ireland hospitals have been suspended from today, January 15.