THERE have been more deaths in the month of December in Fermanagh and Omagh relating to Covid-19 than there were in the first wave of the pandemic.

Some 14 deaths have been recorded this month, to date, while 11 deaths were recorded during the first wave, the latest figures from the Department of Health, accounting for until 10am yesterday (Wednesday, December 16) reveal.

The pressures of the pandemic can be seen across Northern Ireland (NI) as the health service continues to operate above capacity to cope with annual Winter pressures in tandem with the impact of Covid-19.

Annual seasonal pressures, coupled with the Covid-19 crisis, now sees the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) running at 15.57% over bed capacity, with 13.77% of beds in the SWAH occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Wednesday’s daily update showed the SWAH as the worst-affected hospital for operating over-capacity across NI.

Geraldine McKay, Director of Acute Services in the Western Trust said: “The Health and Social Care system, as a whole, manages increased pressures during Winter months.

“Over the past number of years, the level of complex and serious conditions, particularly amongst the growing frail and elderly population, [and] the prevalence of flu and other respiratory conditions at this time of year, and the challenges of helping patients to return home after a hospital stay, does mean that our hospitals can run at a higher level of occupancy.

"This, coupled with managing a high number of Covid-19 cases, does mean that our hospitals are currently running beyond funded bed capacity,” she said.

According to the Department of Health, the number of deaths related to Covid-19 in Fermanagh and Omagh now stands at 41, with two further deaths reported by the Department of Health in the past 24 hours.

Some 38 people have contracted the coronavirus in the past 24 hours in the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area, with 510 people contracting the virus in the same period across NI, bringing the total number of positive cases to 56,631 across NI, and 2,670 in the local Council area.

Eight people have died from the virus across NI in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,143.

Breaking down positive cases by postcode in Fermanagh, from December 7-13, there were 14 cases in BT93; 18 cases in BT92; 54 cases in BT94; and 50 cases in BT74.

BT94 has the fourth-highest rate per 100k of population in NI, with 334 cases.

There have been 206 positive cases in the Council area in the past seven days, compared to 235 in the previous week, from December 2 -8.

Some 22 of those were aged 19 and under; 59 were aged between 20 and 39; 74 were aged between 40 and 59; 35 were aged between 60 and 79, and 16 were aged 80 and over.

The seven-day incident rate for positive cases per 100k people in Fermanagh and Omagh now stands at 176.3. per 100k, for the week of December 9-15 – the previous week’s rate stood at 201.1.

There are currently 74 in-patients across the Western Trust, 23 of those are in the SWAH, while there have been 33 admissions and 24 discharges in the past seven days in Western Trust hospitals.

Across NI, there are currently 457 Covid-19 in-patients.

There are 32 people on Covid ICU beds across NI, with two of these in the SWAH. There are 25 Covid-19 patients on ventilators across NI.

Across NI, there have been 87 confirmed Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes.