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Drinks-only pubs have failed to reopen in Northern Ireland
Drink-only pubs in Northern Ireland will be able to open from Wednesday 23 September, as understood by BBC News NI.
It follows an executive meeting on Thursday afternoon.
The sector had an indicative reopening date of Monday, September 21.
The date is understood to have been pushed back two days to allow regulations on the industry’s enforcement to be drafted.
The reopening date had already been pushed back twice by executive ministers due to concerns about the virus.
About 600 pubs in Northern Ireland that don’t serve food are still waiting for the green light to open.
At present, drink-only pubs can only serve customers outdoors.
The hospitality industry in Northern Ireland has advocated for tighter restrictions and stricter enforcement against establishments violating the rules, to allow more law-abiding pubs to reopen.
Last week, industry representatives met with executive ministers to ask for regulations, rather than guidance, to be established.
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In the Republic of Ireland, drink-only pubs must reopen on the same date, with the exception of Dublin, which remains under tighter restrictions due to increased cases.
Pam Cameron, vice chair of Stormont’s health committee, said drinks-only pubs should be allowed to start marketing soon.
“Most of the alcohol is consumed at home and not in any establishment,” said the member of the assembly of the Democratic Unionist Party.
“That is why I think it is more important that the restrictions are maintained between households and that the advice about not mixing households is maintained because that is where the guard is down.”
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Stormont ministers have also been discussing the imposition of new localized restrictions in parts of Northern Ireland at Thursday’s executive meeting.
On Wednesday, the restrictions received legal force, but caused some confusion as new areas in the Lisburn and Castlereagh council area were added to the list of affected areas.
Previously, it had been announced that the rules would only apply to the Belfast council area, Ballymena, BT28, BT29 and BT43.
The executive has maintained that zip codes will be added and removed as necessary, but DUP deputy Gavin Robinson questioned whether it was the Health Minister who chose to impose stricter restrictions on the area or whether the decision was made in a meeting. full executive.
The latest figures show 149 new confirmed positive cases of the virus in the last 24 hours.
On Thursday, the Northern Ireland Department of Health reported no new coronavirus-related deaths.
That means the death toll from the virus in Northern Ireland remains 573.
The latest figures on the department’s dashboard show 149 new confirmed positive cases of the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing that total to 8,780.
The department’s daily figures are made up mostly of deaths in hospitals and where a patient had previously tested positive for the virus.
The Belfast council area has seen the largest increase in cases in the last 24 hours.
The Health Department says the current R-number, or reproduction rate, of the coronavirus in Northern Ireland is estimated to be around 1.2.
The R value is the number of people who, on average, will be infected by a single person with coronavirus.
Paula Bradshaw, a member of the alliance assembly, who sits on the Stormont health committee, says it is vital that the public message about the coronavirus is “crystal clear” and that people are fully aware of any changes. .
The new rules are expected to last at least two weeks and will be periodically reviewed by the executive.
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