DUP MP questions need amid reports that NI’s chief medical officer has recommended a six-week lockdown

A DUP SENIOR MP has questioned the need for a region-wide blockade in Northern Ireland.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s comments come amid reports that Northern Ireland Medical Director Dr. Michael McBride is advocating a six-week lockdown to stop spiraling infection rates.

Cases in Northern Ireland have increased significantly in the last two weeks. Over the weekend, nearly 2,000 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed. On Friday, 1,080 record cases were confirmed.

Donaldson said that such a proposal was much broader than what was in force or being considered in other parts of the UK or the Republic of Ireland.

“A full six-week lockdown, back to where we were last March, I think would take us way ahead of anywhere else,” he told BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show.

“And the rate in Northern Ireland, you would need to be convinced that such measures at this time are appropriate for all of Northern Ireland.

“I would like to know why we are abandoning the policy of focusing on the areas where infection rates are highest.”

Donaldson said that Dr. Michael McBride needed to produce the data that warranted imposing a six-week lockdown.

“What we are asking the medical director, why do we need a total lockdown in those areas where the infection rate is much lower to combat the spread of infection in places like Derry and Strabane?” he said.

“I think it’s a fair question.”

The Westminster leader of the DUP also challenged Health Minister Robin Swann on why Covid-19 contingency measures, such as the reopening of a Nightingale hospital in Belfast City Hospital, had not been implemented, if the situation facing the local health service was so dire.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister of the North, along with Swann, will later participate in a meeting of the Cobra committee of the UK government.

Daily case numbers in Northern Ireland will be announced today at 2pm