Professor Ian Young reveals the NI areas in which one in 40 people may have Covid

He said one in 100 people have had a Covid diagnosis in the last week, but he said that is an under representation of the true number of cases because many are asymptomatic and are not diagnosed.

“It’s very likely that in parts of Northern Ireland there are as many as one person in 40 who currently has Covid,” he told the BBC Nolan Show.

He said the Mid Ulster council area has had the highest number of cases in the last week followed by the Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon area.

Professor Young also warned that with the recent doubling in case numbers, the number of hospital patients with the virus could reach 1,000 in the coming weeks.

“In the past we have had up to around 500 of hospital inpatients being treated for Covid, we could easily before the end of this month rise to 1,000 or more, and indeed depending on the impact of the new variant those numbers could rise even further beyond that,” he said.

Meanwhile, confusion around Northern Ireland’s coronavirus restrictions will be clarified at an executive meeting, Health Minister Robin Swann has said.

Ministers were due to meet on Thursday, but that has been postponed due to two family funerals.

Changes to restrictions due to come into play on Friday and guidance on transfer tests are set to be discussed.

Mr Swann said confusion around outdoor gatherings “would be tidied up today”.

“We have brought forward additional wording, as a department of health, to the Executive, which will be put through in regard to that,” he said.

He said the messaging which was being put out to the public was not being helped by leaks coming from Executive meetings, which he said “didn’t allow the executive to have that mature political debate without it being broadcast and transferred while that conversation is ongoing”.

“What we see in other legislators, in other governments, is those differences of opinion kept inside, until that collective message is agreed and produced,” Mr Swann told Good Morning Ulster.