Circuit-breaker lockdown in Northern Ireland almost inevitable, claims Public Health Agency official

Dr Gerry Waldron, head of health protection at Public Health Agency, said people needed to brace themselves and see how the next couple of weeks goes.

A circuit breaker is a short intensive period of strict restrictions, or lockdown, to curb the spread of coronavirus.

His warning comes as Northern Ireland recorded 462 new cases of Covid-19 in a 24-hour period.

There has been one further death reported by the Department of Health.

The death toll recorded by the department now stands at 584.

Dr Waldron said the increase in the number of cases in recent days in Northern Ireland was “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.”

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 also 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.

A total of 65 patients with Covid-19 were being cared for in 20 hospitals in the Province on Sunday, with nine patients in intensive care.