A mutant variant of coronavirus has been detected in Northern Ireland, the North's health department confirmed on Wednesday night.
The department said genome analysis was conducted on a small number of suspected Northern Ireland cases, producing one positive result. It said the variant was likely to have been present in Northern Ireland “for a period of time”.
“This new variant had been detected in increasing numbers in the south east of England. It is increasingly likely that it is also established across other regions of the UK and in the Republic of Ireland,” the department said in a statement.
Health Minister Robin Swann said that “sadly” this was the confirmation that had been expected.
The North’s chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said that while “virus mutation is not uncommon the potential of this new strain to spread rapidly is cause for serious concern”.
“”I would advise the public to act on the assumption that it is already well established in Northern Ireland and that the person they pass in the street or stand next to in a queue may have it,” he said.
Isolation
People travelling to Northern Ireland from Britain and the Republic and planning to stay for a day or longer must now isolate for 10 days, according to advice published by the Northern Executive earlier on Wednesday.
This new restriction was announced on a day when there were 21 more Covid-19 deaths in Northern Ireland taking the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 1,240.
The latest figures from the North's Department of Health also show that there were 83 coronavirus deaths in the past week compared to 57 deaths in the previous week.
The department also recorded 787 new cases of the virus, taking the total to 63,723.
Hospital bed occupancy in Northern Ireland on Wednesday was at 100 per cent. There are 451 patients receiving Covid-19 treatment with 31 in intensive care and 22 of them on ventilators.
The new 10-day isolation advice for those entering the North from the Republic or Britain will not apply to people who routinely cross the Border for essential purposes.
The restriction also does not apply to those crossing the Border to provide health or social care or emergency services.
People are permitted to exit self-isolation in order to leave Northern Ireland should their intended stay be shorter than 10 days.
The Executive also advised that people “should not travel in or out of Northern Ireland except where it is essential to do so”.
Curfew
Moreover, for one week from St Stephen’s Day people in Northern Ireland are advised to observe a “curfew” and remain at home from 8pm to 6am. This is an attempt to prevent house parties and other post-Christmas social activity.
The North’s health department also advised people who are deemed to be clinically extremely vulnerable not to attend their workplace if they are unable to work from home.
Previously, such vulnerable people were advised that they should work from home if possible, but that it was “safe to attend work if proper measures to ensure social distancing are in place”.
The department said that the safest advice for clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people was “not to form a Christmas bubble and avoid attending shops, pharmacies and hospitality settings unless absolutely necessary”.
The department added that CEV people who decided to meet their families should do so for as short a time as possible and with very strict precautions.
“The new variant of the virus, coupled with the pressure that our HSC [health and social care] services are experiencing, mean that the risks associated with Covid-19 are elevated,” said the North’s chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride.
“This strengthened advice is intended to offer enhanced protection from Covid-19 to the most vulnerable people in our society. It is not a return to shielding as we knew it at the outset of the pandemic,” he added.
“We are not advising CEV people to stay permanently indoors, and I would encourage CEV people to continue to go outside for exercise, provided they observe social distancing when they do so,” said Dr McBride.
Pre-existing conditions
Meanwhile, latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) show that dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was the most common pre-existing condition in more than one-third of the Covid-19 deaths between March 1st and 30th September 30th this year.
Nisra reported that of 902 Covid-19 related deaths over that period dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was a pre-existing condition in 327 (36.3 per cent) of the deaths. The next most common pre-existing conditions were hypertensive diseases in 180 of the coronavirus deaths and diabetes in 165 of the deaths.
Nisra also reported that over the period between March 1st and November 30th this year there were 1,406 Covid-19 related deaths registered in Northern Ireland, including 114 deaths (8.1 per cent) without pre-existing conditions.
Later on Wednesday, Nisra published more up-to-date figures which showed that over the period of the pandemic up to last Friday (December 18th) there were 1,674 deaths in Northern Ireland involving Covid-19.
Of this total, 1,002 (59.9 per cent) deaths took place in hospital, 553 (33 per cent) in care homes, nine (0.5 per cent) in hospices and 110 (6.6 per cent) at residential addresses or other locations. The 562 deaths which occurred in care homes and hospices involved 130 separate establishments.
The comparative number of deaths reported daily by the North’s Department of Health up to last Friday was 1,002.
That difference is explained by the fact that health department figures mainly relate to deaths in hospital and patients who had previously tested positive for the virus.
Nisra’s figures go wider in that they relate to death certificates in the wider community where Covid-19 was recorded as a factor in the death. – Additional reporting PA
