Unvaccinated people travelling from GB to Republic of Ireland will now have to self-isolate

Minister of State for the Cabinet Office and de facto Brexit Secretary, Lord Frost, has confirmed to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) that he negotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol on behalf of the government in 2019.

When asked by DUP MP for North Antrim, Ian Paisley Jnr, what the government’s objective is concerning the protocol, Lord Frost appeared to say that his focus was to make the protocol operate as smoothly as possible.

“Whatever happens Lord Frost this can’t go on much longer before something gives and I am seriously worried about the fabric of our society,” said Mr. Paisley.

People who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 should not have to self-isolate on their arrival into Ireland from abroad, the Higher Education Minister has said.

Simon Harris said it would be “prudent and sensible” if public health officials examined the advice around self-isolating for those who have been fully vaccinated.

Both vaccinated and non-vaccinated people have to self-isolate for at least five days on their arrival into Ireland.

Mr Harris said: “It’s my view that there seems to be a logic that if somebody is fully vaccinated, surely they should have some benefit or bonus from someone who’s not fully vaccinated?

“So I would like to see a review of the issue of a fully-vaccinated person having to self-isolate or self-quarantine at home. It seems to me not the most logical scenario.

“I would hope that as we move towards trying to reopen international travel and connectivity in the coming weeks, that our medical experts would look again at the issue of how fully-vaccinated people are treated.”

He added: “We must be near to the point that when someone who is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 that there has to be a benefit to that in terms of the isolation rules.

“I made a similar point around mandatory quarantine that if you’re fully vaccinated, why are we sending people to mandatory hotel quarantine?

“I’m now asking the question as we learn more about the vaccine, the benefit of the vaccine, is it now time to begin to review the rules around fully vaccinated people having to self-isolate?”

His remarks come as the Government approved new restrictions requiring people who arrive in Ireland from Britain who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate for ten days.

Anyone who is not fully vaccinated will have to take a second PCR test at 10 days.

There has been an increase of more than 30 per cent in the number of new Covid-19 infections in the last seven days but hospital admissions continue to fall and zero Covid-19 related deaths were recorded.

Whilst new infections increased the number of admissions to hospital decreased by 40 per cent to six over the last seven days.

There were zero Covid-19 related deaths recorded in the last seven days.

Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann has unveiled a £700 million plan to tackle Northern Ireland’s spiralling waiting lists.#The five-year strategy is based on a twin-track approach of investment and reform.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated systemic problems within the region’s health service.

There are currently more than 335,000 waiting on a first consultant-led appointment in Northern Ireland, with some facing waits of up to seven years for treatment.

Mr Swann unveiled his proposed road map out of the crisis at the Stormont Assembly on Tuesday morning.

“I realise this is a big ask at a time when there are many financial demands on our public sector,” he said. “However, we should have no illusions that this is a crisis that has already dragged on far too long. The time for talk is over. What we need now is concerted action.”

The BBC has condemned footage of one of its journalists being aggressively harassed and chased by anti-lockdown protesters in London.

Footage shared on social media showed demonstrators shouting abuse in the fact of Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt near Downing Street on Monday.

Mr Watt, who was wearing a BBC lanyard, was forced to run through the mob beyond a line of police officers as people shouted “traitor” and other slurs at him.

Crowds had gathered in Westminster to protest against the Government’s extension of coronavirus restrictions in England by four weeks.

The BBC said in a statement: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable.

“All journalists should be able to carry out their work without intimidation or impediment.”

Fellow BBC journalist Allie Hodgkins-Brown tweeted: “This is awful. In Central London 2021. Disagree with us fine. Switch us off fine but no journalist deserves this.”

Jo Stevens, Labour’s shadow culture secretary, said: “This extremely disturbing footage showing clear intimidation of a journalist while carrying out his job is absolutely unacceptable and should be condemned in the strongest terms.

“It is shocking that a BBC lanyard makes someone a target like this.”

The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for further information.

One way to protect the education of thousands of school children in Northern Ireland from the impact of the Delta variant is to offer them a Covid-19 vaccine injection, according to Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government, Chris Whitty.

The government has not yet decided whether it will extend the vaccine programme to younger children.

“The key thing for children is safety. We know that the risks in terms of of physical disease to children, other than for some children with significant pre-existing problems of physical health, are much, much lower than for adults.

“So you wouldn’t want to vaccinate unless the vaccine was very safe. Vaccines are now being licensed in some countries and we’re accruing safety data on the safety of these vaccines in children.”

Professor Whitty’s words come as the Delta variant, which originated in India, continues to rapidly spread throughout the Great Britain and Northern Ireland,.

The strain is more transmissive than the Kent variant and brings with it an increased risk of hospitalisation.