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Many businesses in Northern Ireland, which were closed under Covid-19 restrictions, reopened this morning.
However, they must close their doors again for two weeks starting November 27 under the latest plan to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
David Gough, owner of the Newton Brunch Bar in East Belfast, who previously welcomed international visitors to attempt his massive Ulster Fry challenge, described the latest ad as “devastating”.
He said the “constant rule change” is “killing companies” and urged Stormont to ensure that financial support is paid.
Prime Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill have not given media interviews since last night’s announcement.
Justice Minister Naomi Long apologized for this during a radio interview this morning and said it was her understanding that top ministers, along with Health Minister Robin Swann, would have engaged with the media.
“We were all going to be available for interviews and so on today to try and explain what was obviously quite a devastating announcement yesterday for a lot of companies, and I can only apologize that that doesn’t seem to have happened, but I’m certainly happy to do my best. to explain what happened, “he told the BBC.
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“We were in a situation where we were advised that if we didn’t make decisions regarding the blockade and tighter restrictions and a fairly strong circuit breaker, we would end up having to impose restrictions during Christmas and that we have our hospitals in very bad shape,” he said.
The Executive has agreed to introduce a two-week circuit breaker starting on November 27 to stop the spread of # COVID-19 in the community and protect the health service.
More information at: https://t.co/Xc2bukIAIE
And here is a summary of the measures ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/oFRC2xsX9k
– NI Executive (@niexecutive) November 19, 2020
BMA Northern Ireland Council Chairman Dr Tom Black said the decision made yesterday by the Stormont Executive should have been taken five weeks ago.
However, he was pleased that the Executive “was once again led by science” and “had made the right decision.”
“We need this lockdown if we want to ease the pressure on hospitals. Hospitals are at a breaking point,” he said.
“The decision that was made five weeks ago was wrong, it was not severe enough at the time, and it had to be made sooner.
“We should have taken tougher measures five weeks ago if we wanted to prevent this from happening now. It has happened, we have a lot of hard work to do.”
The president of the Royal College of General Practitioners in Northern Ireland said the “collective, cooperative and partnership approach” to fighting the Covid-19 virus is “very welcome” after political disagreements seen in Stormont last week.
Dr Laurence Dorman, who is a GP at Kilkeel in Co Down, said GPs support the decision to reimpose restrictions effective November 27.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said GPs welcome “all measures designed to protect the health of the population” as these are political and difficult decisions.
Dr. Dorman said that partnership and collaboration are the key characteristics of the pandemic and urged the public to play their role in supporting healthcare workers and patients by following all guidelines and taking the approach to try to reduce the number of cases.
Dr Dorman said hospitals in Northern Ireland are very busy, but not overwhelmed because there are contingency plans.
However, he said that the high demand for hospital services has an impact on normal services and that time-dependent services such as hip operations and cancer surgeries are being postponed.
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