Ministers to unveil plans for ‘recovery pathway’ next week

A PLAN to lead Northern Ireland out of the Covid-19 crisis will be unveiled by the Executive next week, the Deputy First Minister has said.

Michelle O’neill revealed Stormont will publish its ‘pathway to recovery’ as she addressed yesterday’s daily briefing alongside First Minister Arlene Foster.

Ms O’neill stressed the long process of exiting the lockdown would be “criteria-led, and not calendar-led”.

The pathway was announced as a further 18 deaths were announced yesterday — four of which occurred within the last 24 hours as well as confirmation of a further 14.

This brings the total number of deaths in the region to 365, however, the true total will be higher when deaths in the community are added in.

In a direct appeal to people to comply with restrictions, Mrs Foster warned of the “tragedy” of undoing the progress we had made so far. She stressed the importance of the public still adhering to the social distancing guidelines, warning that the danger of a second wave of deaths is “still very real”.

Given the risk, she stressed the public needs to be “realistic” about when lockdown can be ended.

“We appreciate that six weeks on from the original lockdown announcement, the public’s patience has been tested,” the First Minister added.

“We know that you are desperate to get back to the life that you had before. Grandparents long to hug their grandchildren.”

She added: “However, as strong as that desire may be, we also need to be realistic and as we head into another weekend we have to stay home as much as possible. Please respect the social distancing advice and wash your hands thoroughly.”

She added: “The danger of Covid-19 cases spiking again is still very real. Having come so far in containing this killer disease, it would be a real tragedy if we were to undo all of our work by becoming complacent.”

The message was underlined by Ms O’neill, who acknowledged that while there has been a lot of speculation on when lockdown rules may be relaxed, there will be “no sweeping changes” to the legislation at this stage.

“I want to set out very clearly today why we’re not yet in a space where we can afford for people to be moving around any more than is absolutely necessary,” she said.

“We need to accept that Covid-19 could be here for some considerable time to come. And it’s important to realise that no relaxation of the current measures is without risk.

“Our priority is limiting the transmission of the virus and saving lives. There will be no single turning point, there will be no sweeping changes to the regulations, but we also understand that people want to see light at the end of the tunnel.”

However, Ms O’neill accepted the impact of the lockdown had ensured that “there isn’t a single person out there who is not feeling the strain”.

“Next week we will publish our pathway to recovery,” she added, emphasising that it will be “criteria-led” and not “calendar-led”.

“We will be reviewing all the regulations next week... and we communicate that as soon as possible.”

Both Stormont leaders acknowledged how difficult the lockdown has been for people here, including church-goers, having met with church leaders to discuss the prospect of easing it.

“For people of faith it has been a real challenge, not being able to go to a worship and come together as Christians,” Mrs Foster said.