Covid-19: NI lockdown could be in place 'until Easter'

Stormont ministers have been told lockdown restrictions in NI may remain in place until after Easter, BBC News NI understands.

Health Minister Robin Swann has recommended extending the lockdown until 5 March, with a review date of 18 February.

But he also suggested it is "possible" that further extensions will be required beyond that.

This could be around Easter, which falls in the first week of April.

Ministers are meeting to discuss the proposals from Mr Swann, and it is understood this plan is currently being discussed across the four nations.

It is thought ministers will delay a decision of any further extension until next month.

There is also a warning that restrictions will be eased on a step-by-step basis.

The executive meeting comes as a further 21 deaths were recorded by the Department of Health on Thursday.

That brings the department's total number of deaths to 1,692.

A further 732 more positive cases have also been recorded, meaning there have now been 98,351 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.

The Department of Health said that 70 people are being treated in intensive care units across Northern Ireland - an increase of three in the past 24 hours - of which 58 are on ventilators.

A six-week lockdown began in Northern Ireland on 26 December.

Many sectors had to close and the executive pledged to review the lockdown after four weeks.

But NI's health service is set to face bigger pressures this weekend than at any other time during the pandemic.

While it is thought the number of hospital admissions has peaked, Mr Swann said intensive care pressures were likely to increase further in the next week.

Mr Swann has also announced that members of the military are to be brought in to help medical staff in Northern Ireland in the fight against Covid-19.

Announcing plans to lift restrictions at a time when the health service is facing its worst pressures would not have looked good.

Minister are effectively being asked to support a four-week extension of the measures, in a bid to get the rate of infection down as far as possible, but with the caveat that more measures could be needed.

Schools are closed for the most part until after half-term in late February, but with some whispers already that they may not return until after Easter it appears that line of thinking is growing.

The current restrictions are clearly working, with ministers likely to be told the Reproduction (R) number in the community has dropped slightly again to between 0.65 and 0.85 - but the focus in the next few weeks must be on protecting hospitals.

Beyond that, it is thought health officials also want to ensure the vaccination programme is also well advanced before any restrictions are relaxed.

It feels like the price Northern Ireland is paying for easing restrictions before Christmas is set to keep rising.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Swann said he would not pre-empt the outcome of Thursday's meeting but confirmed he would bring recommendations from his officials.

"This is not the time to open floodgates or take premature decisions that would lead to another spike in cases," he added.

The lockdown saw additional measures put in place on 8 January, with people told they should only leave home for exercise, food and medical needs or if they cannot work from home.

Ministers and health officials have said the restrictions have had an impact on the reproductive rate of the virus - known as the R-number - which measures the infection rate of Covid-19.

It had risen to about 1.8 due to Christmas relaxations.

By last week, it had fallen to between 0.7 and 0.9 for cases within the community, but was still sitting between 1.2 and 1.4 for hospital admissions.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride warned that the virus would not "magically disappear" on 6 February,

He said as many as possible clinically vulnerable people would need to have received their first vaccine before "significant relaxations" could be considered by the executive.

Meanwhile from Thursday, all international passengers are required by law to present a negative test before arriving in Northern Ireland.

However, there are currently no international flights arriving in Northern Ireland.

Spokespersons for Belfast International and Belfast City airports confirmed that only domestic flights are scheduled during the current lockdown.

When international flights resume, travel operators will be committing an offence if they permit travel without the necessary proof of a negative test.

Any operators found to be in breach of the regulation will be fined up to £10,000.

If a traveller arrives in Northern Ireland without the necessary proof of a negative test, and without a reasonable excuse, they could face fines starting at £500.

On Monday, all travel corridors into the United Kingdom were closed, so all international arrivals have to self-isolate for 10 days, unless they test negative after five days.

The measures do not apply to people travelling from other parts of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, known as the Common Travel Area.

Passengers arriving into the Republic of Ireland have had to provide a negative Covid-19 test before departure since last Saturday, and that requirement also applies to passengers travelling to the Republic from Great Britain.

Mr Swann said the tests, which must be taken within the 72-hour period before departure, "will provide another layer of protection to help reduce the risk of imported infections, while national lockdown and vaccination take effect".

He added: "The move is in addition to other robust existing measures such as the removal of travel corridors and the self-isolation requirement, regardless of pre-departure test result."