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Northern Executive Ministers reached consensus on Thursday night on new Covid-19 restrictions that will extend current ones beyond the first week of December and well into the Christmas holiday period.
On a day when 12 more Covid-19-related deaths were recorded in Northern Ireland, bringing the death toll to 901, ministers agreed to a new two-week “circuit breaker” that will extend the lockdown until Friday the 11th. from December.
On Thursday, Health Minister Robin Swann presented to ministers proposals that will involve the closure of hospitality, churches, nonessential retail, close-contact businesses such as hairdressers and estheticians, and the leisure and entertainment sectors.
All five executive parties, including the DUP, which previously opposed such proposals, backed the measures, which will begin on Friday, November 27.
Schools and nurseries will remain open. Deactivated licenses can remain open until 8 pm Takeout and deliveries will be allowed. Weddings and funerals can take place with a maximum attendance of 25 in churches. Universities are encouraged to offer distance education, except when face-to-face lessons are essential.
The Executive also promised to provide a financial package in the coming days to help those affected by the restrictions.
Mr. Swann had warned his fellow ministers that inaction would result in a “significant increase” in deaths from Covid and non-Covid in mid-December and hospitals would be “overwhelmed.”
Commitment reached
After four days of disputes last week, the Executive finally reached a compromise whereby, instead of an additional two weeks of lockdown starting on November 13, as recommended by Swann and his advisers, the restrictions would be extended by a week followed by a gradual reopening of the hospitality sector.
This Friday cafes and coffee shops were to reopen, as well as hairdressers and beauticians, while the following Friday, November 27, pubs, hotels and restaurants were scheduled to reopen.
Cafes and hairdressers can open for a week starting this Friday but must close for two weeks starting next Friday, November 27.
That initial commitment was the result of a refusal by the DUP to sign the additional two weeks of restrictions, as proposed by Swann on the advice of the medical director, Dr. Michael McBride, and the senior scientific advisor, Professor Ian Young.
During Wednesday and Thursday, however, the DUP moderated its position. High-ranking members of the party, such as MPs Jeffrey Donaldson and Gavin Robinson, indicated that since the R number had risen from 0.7 to 1, the party could now tolerate extended restrictions to try to slow the spread of the virus.
East Belfast DUP MP Gavin Robinson denied the party was making a U-turn. “You have to operate on the basis of the information that is available to you at any time. You have to be agile with the information that is available, ”he told BBC Radio Ulster.
Full bed occupancy
On Thursday, the Northern Department of Health recorded 487 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total since the pandemic outbreak in Northern Ireland to 48,716.
The latest figures showed that hospital bed occupancy was 100 percent, with 456 patients treated for the virus.
Of these, 41 are in intensive care units, with 32 on ventilators.
The overall seven-day Covid figure for Northern Ireland is 181 cases per 100,000 residents.
Meanwhile, the Health Department said Northern Ireland was expected to receive up to 4.3 million doses of two coronavirus vaccines once they received official clearance. The department said the North would take 2.85 percent of the total amount of vaccine provided to the UK.
North Korea’s chief pharmaceutical officer, Cathy Harrison, told the Assembly’s health committee that she did not anticipate any post-Brexit issues with bringing Covid-19 vaccines to Northern Ireland when they go live.
“We do not anticipate any problems in relation to leaving the EU in terms of handling the vaccine and getting the vaccines to Northern Ireland. The vaccines will go directly to Northern Ireland, ”he said.
Ms Harrison also did not expect any distribution of the vaccine to all islands, although it was thought that there was likely some coordination on the issue between the two jurisdictions.
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