Northern Ireland imposes four-week circuit breaker restrictions as Covid cases soar

Pubs and restaurants in Northern Ireland have been ordered to close and schools will have an extended half-term break as part of a four-week “circuit-breaker” to deal with soaring coronavirus cases announced by first minister Arlene Foster.

Starting on Friday, the four-week partial lockdown will also see a ban on indoor sport, close contact services such as hairdressing and public events involving more than 15 people.

Shops will remain open, and takeaways and food deliveries will be permitted until 11pm, but supermarkets and off-licences will be banned from selling alcohol after 8pm, the first minister told a special sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly. 

Places of worship will have a mandatory face-covering requirement and gyms will open for individual training only. Organised contact sports outside are prohibited, apart from elite contests.

Schools will be closed for two weeks with an extension of the October half-term to 2 November. A 25-person limit will be placed on funerals and weddings, but wedding receptions are prohibited.

Existing restrictions on meeting in homes and gardens will continue and there will be a ban on overnight stays in private properties unless in a bubble with the household.

People in Northern Ireland are being told to work from home unless unable to do so, and are urged not to take unnecessary journeys.

While the restrictions do not amount a full-scale lockdown similar to the onset of the pandemic in March, the measures mark a significant ramping up of Northern Ireland’s response to spiralling infection rates.

The latest Covid-19 figures show 6,286 new positive cases of the virus have been detected in the last seven days while the Derry and Strabane Council area has been experiencing the highest infection rate in the UK – with a daily average of 970 cases per 100,000.

As of Tuesday, there were 150 patients in hospitals with Covid-19, including 23 in intensive care.

The decision by the Northern Ireland Assembly to ramp up its response to the disease follows the significant intervention on Tuesday from Sir Keir Starmer, who urged the prime minister to introduce a “circuit breaker” lockdown in England.

Ms Foster told the Stormont assembly that the fast escalating numbers of cases was a matter of “grave concern”.

“We fully appreciate that this will be difficult and worrying news for a lot of people,” she said. “The executive has taken this decision because it is necessary and we discussed the impacts in great detail. We do not take this step lightly.” 

Ms Foster said that the time-limited restrictions were designed to reduce Covid transmission rates and to create “a point where everyone each and every one of us can take stock and go back to the social distancing measures which are vitally important”.

She warned that without a reduction in infections, Northern Ireland “will be in a very difficult place very soon indeed”.

And she added: “We will need to exit these arrangements most carefully. They will be put in place during Friday of this week, and will be there for four weeks. Any extension or amendment to them will require a decision of the executive.

“We must reach a different place on both the numbers and on getting back to the basics of social distancing … Small acts can have a large and important contribution to managing Covid-19, so wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear face coverings.”