Coronavirus: Northern Ireland set for circuit-breaker lockdown including ‘closure of pubs and restaurants’

Northern Ireland is set for a period of intensified coronavirus restrictions, including a two week closure of schools and pubs and bars being ordered to shut down for a month in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.

An official announcement from the Northern Ireland Assembly – expected on Wednesday morning – comes as Boris Johnson faces escalating pressure to introduce a two-week “circuit-breaker” lockdown in England.

According to the BBC, the new measures to be introduced by Stormont will include hospitality being forced to close for four weeks from Friday, excluding for takeaways, while schools will close for two weeks, one of which will cover the half-term break.

Off licences and supermarkets will also be ordered not to sell alcohol after 10pm while the current restrictions on household mixing indoors – introduced in September – are expected to remain in place.

However, gyms will be allowed to remain open for individual training and retail shops will not be forced to close. Individuals will still be able to visit places of worship but face coverings will be mandatory.

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 spiralling infection rates.

Following a late night meeting of the Northern Ireland executive, deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill said: “The Exec has given painstaking consideration to next steps.

“We know this is hard and that people will be worried about their livelihoods, but we will do everything we possibly can to make sure there are protections in place for businesses, workers and families.”

The DUP leader and first minister Arlene Foster, who is expected to make the announcement today on further restrictions, insisted it was to an option to “close the country down”, adding it was “critical” that long-term schools closures were avoided.

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.

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.

He also urged Mr Johnson to follow the advice of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), who argued for stricter measures three weeks’ ago, including the closure of pubs and restaurants in an effort to avoid a “catastrophe”.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of Sage, said on Tuesday evening the government’s three-tier system unveiled just days ago by Mr Johnson in Parliament was a compromise between health and the economy, “but may end up damaging both”.

Meanwhile, Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister said his government was “very actively talking about and preparing for” a circuit-breaker lockdown  and that “detailed planning” was under way to establish what measures would be put in place and for how long it would last.

"I don't think it is sensible for the UK government to dismiss that idea, they ought to sit down with everybody, look at it seriously and then make a proper decision," Mr Drakeford said.