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Prime Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill were due to discuss the sharp rise in coronavirus cases with the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister on Monday, according to high-level sources at Stormont.
Amid calls for a concerted approach between Great Britain and Ireland to tackle Covid-19 and the possibility of a change to Level 5 restrictions in the Republic, DUP and Sinn Féin leaders planned to hold phone conversations with Micheál. Martin and Boris Johnson on the pandemic.
The Northern Executive also met on Monday when the Northern Health Department reported 616 new Covid-19 cases in its daily afternoon bulletin, bringing the total number of cases to 14,690. There were no more deaths, leaving the death toll at 584.
The department also reported 3,630 new cases of the virus in the past seven days, with the highest number of cases still being recorded in the Derry and Strabane Council area.
In Derry and Strabane there were 534 cases of the virus per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days. The next highest was Newry, Morne and Down, where the incidence was 321 cases per 100,000, followed by Belfast with 241 cases per 100,000.
The Executive Ministers of the North in their meeting on Monday did not take any decision to introduce new measures to combat the virus. Last week he moved to introduce more restrictions in the Strabane and Derry Council area which went into effect on Monday.
However, the Executive discussed proposals to introduce a “circuit breaker” in Northern Ireland, an effective two or three week lockdown to try to curb the increase in Covid-19 cases. However, no decision was made on this.
The Executive also considered how the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) had proposed that the Republic go to Level 5 of restrictions.
Again, the Executive decided not to make immediate decisions. He is scheduled to meet again on Thursday to further assess the situation.
On Sunday, Sinn Féin Finance Minister Conor Murphy said that if a “circuit breaker” restriction were imposed in Northern Ireland, similar measures should be introduced in the Republic and Britain to maximize the chances of restricting the spread of the virus in Great Britain and Ireland.
The position of the Executive seems to be to continue monitoring the situation in the coming days before deciding whether to move to more restrictions.
Meanwhile, Northern Health Minister Robin Swann said he “would not hesitate to recommend further restrictions” if necessary, adding that he did not want to see a “long-term” lockdown.
“Domestic contacts have been drastically reduced in Northern Ireland and tighter restrictions have been introduced for the local government district of Derry and Strabane, in light of the data for that council area,” he said.
“Additional planned interventions are being actively considered. I remain very aware of the adverse consequences of this pandemic on society and the economy. I don’t want to go back to a long-term or indefinite lockdown. “
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