The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is anticipating £5.5m Covid expenditure during the financial year, it has been reported.
Owen Harkin told Trust board members at a meeting in Antrim Hospital, on Thursday, the “vast majority” of this sum will be spent on personal protective equipment (PPE) to “make sure staff are safe”.
He went on to say he expects the cost to be funded by the Department of Health.
The Public Health Agency has reported the number of new infections detected in Northern Ireland through clinical and routine testing was 441 last week, an increase from 409, the previous week. In the week ending June 14, there were five Covid-19 registered deaths.
The Public Health Agency’s Covid-19 Epidemological Bulletin also states there is a “general increasing trend in the number of community acquired” emergency Covid-19 hospital in-patients in Northern Ireland in recent weeks with 99 admissions last week compared to 68 during the previous week.
However, the report stated that overall, there has been a “general decreasing trend” in the number of “community acquired” emergency Covid-19 hospital in-patients since late December 2023.
It also noted there has been a decrease in the number of confirmed Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes last week.
The report also indicated that Antrim and Newtownabbey, Belfast, Fermanagh and Omagh and Mid Ulster council areas saw a decrease in episode rates last week.
The Public Health Agency has advised:
“Infection episodes detected through clinical testing reveal only a small fraction of the true number of cases, because only a minority of people who have Covid-19 disease are tested. We continue to monitor these because an increase may indicate increasing incidence or severity.”