Twenty-six Northern Ireland Covid-linked deaths in latest weekly update

Good afternoon

Welcome to your afternoon update from the News Letter.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) has announced that twenty-six deaths linked to Covid-19 occurred in Northern Ireland in the latest week analysed by statisticians. The fatalities happened in the week July 31 to August 6. They take the total number of coronavirus-linked deaths recorded by Nisra to 3,056.
Meanwhile Health chiefs have warned of further surgery cancellations across Northern Ireland as staff are diverted to treat increasing numbers of Covid patients in intensive care. The Health and Social Care Board said action was needed to increase ICU capacity in hospitals across the region and the only way to achieve that was to redeploy specialist staff working in other areas of the healthcare system.
In other news:
Police have disputed the accuracy of a social media message claiming to show a gunman firing shots outside St Peter’s Catholic cathedral in west Belfast. Images and video were circulated by a Twitter account of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), a movement linked to the INLA, showing a tricolour-draped coffin outside the cathedral and masked black-and-white mourners.
Friday 13th, unlucky for some, but what if you’re house hunting and hoping for a bargain? Maybe number 13 might be in luck. PropertyPal has revealed that homes with the number 13 sell for on average around £11,000 cheaper than the average property in Northern Ireland. So, if you don’t have Triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13) and shrug off superstitions, you could score yourself a sweet deal on a home. According to PropertyPal data, houses numbered 13 sell for an average of £138,692 - an incredible difference of £11,609 compared to neighbours 12 and 14, which sell for an average price of £150,300.
Have a good weekend
Michael Cousins