evidence: Five more deaths and 1,771 new positive cases of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland were reported on Wednesday. The death rate in Northern Ireland from Covid-19 is currently almost seven times higher than it is in the Republic. The number of people who have died from the illness in the last seven days in the North is 49, the equivalent of 122 in the Republic adjusted for population. [...] Northern Ireland’s case numbers have been much higher than the Republic in recent weeks. The North’s health department’s Covid dashboard features a graph comparing daily international death rates based on a seven-day rolling average. It compares Northern Ireland with seven countries – the Republic, the UK, the US, Italy, Japan, South Korea and China.