By Rebecca Black, PA
The daily number of Covid-19 infections confirmed in the North has topped 1,700 for the first time since January.
Case numbers have been rapidly increasing in recent weeks with the Delta variant of the virus now dominant in the region.
On Monday a further 1,776 cases of Covid-19 were reported by the Department of Health.
It comes after 537 new cases were reported on Sunday, 1,402 cases were reported on Saturday and 1,380 on Friday.
NI #COVID19 data has been updated:
📊1,776 positive cases and one death has been reported in past 24 hours.
💉2,168,431 vaccines administered in total.
Dashboard➡️https://t.co/YN16dmGzhv
Vaccines➡️https://t.co/Yfa0hHVmRL pic.twitter.com/i5xeJSpdEu— Department of Health (@healthdpt) July 19, 2021
One further death of a patient who had previously tested positive for the virus was also notified on Monday, bringing the toll to 2,163.
Hospital patient numbers are also increasing.
On Monday morning there were 109 Covid-19 positive patients in hospital, with seven in intensive care.