'Brace yourselves' - more restrictions on way if NI covid spike continues
Last updated 5th Oct 2020
Stormont is set to review coronavirus regulations today (Monday) as Northern Ireland's covid case surge continues.
Robin Swann warned that the Executive would not hesitate in bringing additional restrictions into force to combat the spread as part of what he called "decisive action".
But the Health Minister said he did not want a return to a long-term or indefinite lockdown.
Meanwhile, Dr Gerry Waldron from the Public Health Agency warned a 'circuit-breaker' lockdown in Northern Ireland was "almost inevitable'' if incidence rates continued to rise.
Dr Waldron said people needed to brace themselves and see how the next couple of weeks work out.
A circuit breaker is a short intensive period of strict restrictions, or lockdown, to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Swann described the rise in the infection rate across the region as "deeply disturbing''.
A total of 462 new cases of Covid-19 in a 24-hour period were confirmed by the Department of Health on Sunday.
There has been one further death reported.
The death toll recorded by the department now stands at 584.
"Our hospitals are already under growing pressure and this will inevitably intensify in the coming weeks given the extent of the new cases,'' Mr Swann said.
"Concrete action has been taken by Executive on a number of fronts and I will not hesitate to recommend further restrictions. Saving lives and protecting our health service must come first.''
He said household contacts had been "severely curtailed'' across Northern Ireland and more intensive restrictions have been introduced for Derry and Strabane local government district, in light of the data for that council area.
"Additional planned interventions are under active consideration,'' he added.
"I continue to be very mindful of the adverse consequences of this pandemic on society and the economy. I do not want a return to a long-term or indefinite lockdown.''
He said on Sunday that any interventions must be accompanied by a concerted community-wide effort to get the virus back under control.
"I really hope that by now everyone is fully aware of the scale of the crisis we are facing,'' Mr Swann said.
He said the health service could not fight the virus on its own and needed the whole community to rally round and to strictly follow the public health advice''.
"Social distancing is not an optional extra,'' he added.
Earlier Dr Waldron described the increase in the number of cases in recent days in Northern Ireland as worrying'' but not surprising given the way the cases have been mounting over the past few weeks.
"It's not a place we expected to be at this time of the year, at the beginning of October, we thought, if anything, we might be seeing that maybe middle of October,'' he told Radio Ulster's Sunday With Steven Rainey show.
"It's here. We have to deal with it and we'll deal with it by people taking to heart the messages that were put out before about social distance, social isolation when required, wearing face coverings and washing hands,'' he said.
Asked whether a circuit breaker was needed, he said: "If the numbers continue to ramp up as we've seen I think it's almost inevitable that that's the way we'll be heading.''
He added: "We'll just have to brace ourselves and see how things pan out over the next few days and the next week.''
It comes as a 46-year-old woman was charged with breaching coronavirus regulations in Strabane, Co Tyrone.
She is the first person in Northern Ireland to be charged under the new legislation.
The woman is due to appear before Londonderry Magistrates' Court later today (Monday).
The latest figures show that the infection rate in Derry City and Strabane has continued to increase. There are now 485.2 cases per 100,000 of the population.
The rate in the Newry, Mourne and Down council area is up to 289.1 while Belfast has risen to 214.8.
The area with the next highest prevalence is Mid Ulster at 180.3.
The Stormont Executive announced new restrictions for the Derry City and Strabane Council area on Thursday in an effort to stem spiralling infection numbers.
They include hospitality businesses being limited to takeaway, delivery and outdoor dining, and a call to avoid unnecessary travel.
From today you can no longer dine indoors in the Derry City and Strabane area of Northern Ireland.
Restaurants can only offer takeaway, or outdoor dining - while people are being asked to limit travel and work from home if possible.