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Updated 1 hour ago
ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS will be placed on social gatherings throughout Northern Ireland.
The new measures, announced in response to a growing number of Covid-19 cases, were confirmed tonight by Prime Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill.
Under the new rules, there will be no two-household mixing indoors, except for one-person household bubbles, where two households merge to support adults living alone or single parents with children. Some other exemptions also apply.
No more than six people from two households can meet in private gardens.
Foster said: “It is in an environment where we feel safe and relaxed that we let our guard down.
“The mix of homes indoors offers one of the best opportunities for the spread of the virus.”
The level of Covid-19 varies across Northern Ireland, but hotspots have emerged in several places in recent days.
Earlier today, both Foster and O’Neill spoke with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic.
Today, 125 new cases of the virus were confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number to 9,466.
Under the new measures, food-serving pubs and restaurants will remain open. Pubs that do not serve food will remain open on Wednesday.
Both leaders stressed the importance of the next few weeks in stopping the spread of the virus.
“Doing nothing was not an option, but neither was going back to total lockdown,” Foster said.
“These are limited restrictions that I hope by taking action at this early stage, we can avoid the need for more draconian measures.”
Between two and four percent of tests are now positive and show increased community transmission, said Stormont’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Ian Young.
The virus reproduction rate has risen to 1.4 and in some local districts it would be around two.
Previously, the limitations applied to the greater Belfast and Ballymena area in Antrim.
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Earlier, the UK Medical Director warned that the UK could see 50,000 new Covid-19 cases a day next month if no action is taken.
Emergency shutdown
Speaking at a briefing tonight, Foster stressed that this is not a return to “lockdown.”
O’Neill said people were “fed up and tired” with Covid-19, but it posed a real threat and that they had a chance to prevent an even more challenging situation this winter.
“Covid-19 has been allowed to establish itself in our community and we must act now.
“This is a fight, the coming months will be difficult.”
With reporting by Dominic McGrath
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