Michael Cousins Acting Managing Editor

Good afternoon

This is your afternoon Coronavirus and latest news update from the News Letter

Friday is the day when the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) release their latest figures. Today they have announced that a further 54 deaths involving Covid-19 have occurred in NI. The Agency collated the number of fatalities in the week from August 28 to September 3.

Meanwhile the Department of Health, in their daily updates, have a reported six further deaths of patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. The Department said there had also been 1,687 new confirmed cases in the last 24-hour reporting period. On Friday morning, there were 461 Covid-19 inpatients in hospital, 43 of whom were in intensive care.

Covid Testing: How to book a PCR test in Northern Ireland. With PCR tests in high demand, it's now more important than ever to have all the facts when booking your Covid test in Northern Ireland. But how can you book one and what does the process entail?

In other news: 

* DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he expects to see action from the UK government next month to tackle the Northern Ireland protocol following his warning that the “political institutions” at Stormont are at risk. 

and 

* DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has accused the European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic of dismissing the concerns of unionists over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Have a good weekend

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