THE Department of Health has reported a further 20 Coronavirus-related hospital deaths in the North of Ireland.
The latest statistics brings the death toll here to at least 329.
The figures cover mainly hospital deaths and are expected to rise once deaths in care homes and in the community are taken into account.
Those figures will be released this Friday, May 1.
The number of people who have so far tested positive for the virus is 3,408.
Health minister Robin Swann told the Stormont press conference today that the latest 20 coronavirus-related deaths in hospitals here must never be seen as only a statistic.
He sends his sympathies to all the families affected.
The former UUP leader says Covid-19 has had a “devastating impact” on Northern Ireland since the start of the outbreak.
The Health Minister said that a “time will come when we will be able to ease some of the restrictions” in relation to the coronavirus outbreak, “but that time is not now”.
“I know the public will forgive me for being cautious about that,” he adds.
“I don’t want to start speculating on potential dates, because we haven’t reached that stage yet.
“I don’t want people thinking or acting like it is imminent, because it is not.”
He says the lockdown will stay for as “long as it is needed and no longer”.
He says social distancing will stay in some form for “many months”.
North’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride
“We’re are still not through the first wave of this infection,” he said.
He said he knew it was difficult for people to look at other countries in Europe begin to relax some of their restrictions.
However, he added: “We are not all in the same place at this time and that is crucially important for us all to remember.
“It is too soon, it is too early for us now to lose the ground that we have made.”
The advice is still to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.
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