Southern Health Trust suspends visits as Covid cases increase

A health trust has suspended visits at hospitals amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

The Southern Health Trust announced on Friday evening that visits would be suspended until further notice.

Exceptions will be made for end of life visiting.

The department of health announced on Friday that there would be no further relaxations to arrangements around visiting at care homes.

Recent days have seen a steep rise in the number of new cases of the virus that are being reported daily.

On Thursday the number of cases notified by the department of health had risen to 1,083, up from 636 on Wednesday.

Health minister Robin Swann expressed concern at the numbers, which were above 1,000 for the first time since January.

On Friday a further 1,380 cases of Covid-19 were reported.

That morning there were 92 Covid-19 positive patients in hospitals across Northern Ireland, with two in intensive care.