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Northern Ireland will announce powerful new Covid-19 restrictions to try to contain the explosion in infection rates.
The measures are likely to include the closure of many businesses and schools and further restrictions on meetings for several weeks, amounting to a partial closure.
The Stormont executive is expected to make the plan known in a statement to the region’s assembly at 10:30 am Wednesday.
Northern Ireland’s seven-day cumulative infection rate per 100,000 residents is 334, one of the highest in Europe. The city of Derry and the Strabane council area have a rate of 970 per 100,000 residents.
On Tuesday, the health department reported seven deaths and another 863 infections. In the last seven days, 6,286 new cases of the virus have been registered, raising the total since the pandemic began to 21,898.
The Belfast Health Trust canceled 105 elective surgeries on Tuesday due to Covid-related pressure, saying it had reached a “trigger point” to admit patients to intensive care.
Of 150 people who were being treated at the hospital for coronavirus, 23 were in intensive care and 15 were on ventilators. At two hospitals run by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, more than 30 nurses self-isolated due to a Covid-19 outbreak.
In a video posted overnight, Prime Minister Arlene Foster said the region’s government would endeavor to financially support those affected by the new restrictions. The leader of the Democratic Unionist party hinted that schools would close for a brief period.
“Ministers are elected to decide and make decisions, and one of the other issues that we are passionate about at the DUP is education and life opportunities for our young people,” said Foster. “So it is critical that we do not have long-term closures in our schools and that is something we feel very, very strongly.
“Our health service will have to expand in the coming days, we will have to continue looking for a modern, strong and reformed health service and we are also very clear that whatever we put in place will only be available for a limited time. time frame.”
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s Deputy Prime Minister and Vice President, said the executive would try to cushion the blow. “We know this is difficult,” he said.
Michelle O’Neill
(@moneillsf)The executive has carefully considered the next steps.
We know this is difficult and that people will be concerned about their livelihoods, but we will do everything we can to ensure that there are protections in place for businesses, workers and families. Update in the morning
There was an intense backstage dispute at the power-sharing executive Tuesday night, with the DUP resisting demands from Sinn Féin and other parties for a sharp “circuit breaker” closure. A disputed compromise was for schools to close for two weeks, while businesses in certain sectors, including hospitality, would close for longer.
Northern Ireland Medical Director Michael McBride and Senior Scientific Advisor Ian Young have recommended a Northern Ireland-wide lockdown lasting four to six weeks. The region has looser restrictions than many parts of the UK.
Authorities in the Republic of Ireland will face pressure to reflect the new Northern Ireland restrictions on border counties.
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