‘Risk-based strategy’ with five steps agreed to steer North out of lockdown
PREMISES where customers cannot drink alcohol and outdoor sports facilities will be among the first to open as Northern Ireland moves out of lockdown.
The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed its roadmap to lift Covid-19 restrictions, which reveals tentative steps are planned in a bid to stop another deadly wave of the virus.
Click and collect for non-essential retail, driving lessons and tests, and church services will all be permitted during the first step out of lockdown.
It comes as Northern Ireland recorded another 149 new cases of Covid-19.
Announcing details of the plan at the Assembly yesterday, Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill described the plan as a “careful, cautious and hopeful approach to existing restrictions”.
Addressing her MLA colleagues, Mrs O’Neill said:
“This is a risk-based strategy and one that we hope will be understood in the current Covid-19 context at this time.
“Our aim is to find a safe, secure, sustainable and understandable way forward.
“Today we want to give people hope, we want people to know that there is something to grab on to, that we have a way forward.”
However, asked whether she can provide a guarantee that there will be no further lockdowns, Mrs O’Neill refused to commit.
No dates have been provided in the roadmap document – decisions are instead expected to be guided by the level of infection and the pressure on the health service.
However, the plan is broken down into five steps, beginning with the current lockdown restrictions before providing details of the types of measures that will be relaxed in each phase in each sector.