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PSNI
Police Chief Simon Byrne and Medical Director Michael McBride joined a PSNI licensing officer to inspect the bars and restaurants of Belfast city center on Saturday night
A licensed venue in Belfast has closed after receiving a PSNI ban notice on Saturday night.
In a tweet, Police Chief Simon Byrne said the venue was closed for violating Covid-19 regulations.
Mr. Byrne and Medical Director Michael McBride joined PSNI officers on routine patrol and license checks of bars and restaurants in Belfast city center.
He said the vast majority were compliant with regulations.
A ban notice requires a place to stop what law enforcement officers consider unsafe activity; in this case, infractions of the health protection regulations (coronavirus restrictions) NI 2020.
The notice means that the place must close and remain closed until the police are satisfied that it can reopen safely.
Police have issued ban notices to licensed locations in Banbridge, Irvinestown, Roslea, Tempo, Coleraine, Bangor and Moy.
Health Minister Robin Swann has said he wants to prioritize stronger legislation to tackle the problem.
Meanwhile, daily Covid-19 testing figures released on Saturday showed a significant number of new cases on both sides of the Irish border.
In Northern Ireland, the Department of Health said 118 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours.
Their weekend figures are not complete statistics and do not provide details of coronavirus-related deaths.
In the Republic of Ireland, 231 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed.
More than half (58%) of the new infections recorded in the Republic occurred in Dublin, with 133 positive tests in the county.
Dr Ronan Glynn, Ireland’s Acting Medical Director, described this as a “significant number” and said it is now “important that the people of Dublin keep their social contacts as low as possible.”
On Saturday night, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin urged people to “heed the words” of Mr. Glynn.
Irish health authorities have opened two “emerging Covid-19 swab centers” in Croke Park and Castleknock Health Center in response to the rising infection rate in the capital.
Kildare County, which recently emerged from a local lockdown, had the second highest number of new cases on Saturday with 18 positive tests.
This was followed by Limerick County, which has 13 new cases.
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More than 250,000 people have been evaluated in NI
Overall, more than two thirds (69%) of new cases reported by the Irish Health Protection Surveillance Center are people under 45 years of age.
No new deaths related to the coronavirus were reported on Saturday, so the death toll in the Republic remains at 1,777.
In Northern Ireland, the Department of Health death toll is 564.
However, the Northern Ireland Research and Statistics Agency (Nisra), which produces more comprehensive figures, said on Friday that Covid-19 had been mentioned on 873 death certificates as of August 28.
Since the pandemic began, 250,425 people have been tested for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.
Of these, 7,621 people tested positive for the virus, meaning that around 3% of the people tested tested positive.
