NI ‘must choose’ to reopen either schools or economy - but not both - says Department of Health

Covid related deaths, hospital admissions and care home outbreaks have, almost completely, plummeted since mid January, with 665,000 vaccinations so far.

This week First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill hinted that they could announce lockdown easing next week - but only for schools and outdoor sports.

And Stormont leaks appear to confirm that any school openings for P4 and above will come at the cost of reopening business.

Private DoH advice to the Executive - published by the BBC and verified by the News Letter - says that “the decision to prioritise and accelerate face-to-face learning must be supported by the retention of other existing restrictions at least until after the Easter holidays”.

But Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive of Retail NI, said there should be no trade offs. “While the business rates holiday [announced Thursday] is very welcome, we now need to see the Executive, at its review meeting next week, give the green light for non-essential retail to reopen in April” he said.

“It should not be a question of schools Vs economy and instead be how best we can safely reopen our society in a safe and timely way.”

Stephen Kelly, CEO of Manufacturing NI, said people whose lives are being devastated deserve to see the data behind the decisions.

“Everyone, particularly those home schooling, wants to get our children back as soon as possible,” he said.

“But those whose businesses have been destroyed, the owners without an income and those who are scraping through on only 80% of their wages want to get back to work too.”

He urged full transparency on the decision making and said business people were used to understanding complex data.

Consultant Respiratory Specialist Dr Geoffrey Todd said lockdown is causing “serious and ever accumulating mental and physical ill health”.

He added: “Then there’s the educational and economic consequences. The poor will suffer most. There’s no doubt that the politicians have difficult decisions to make and say they don’t want to be reckless but it could be that going over the top with lockdown is just that.”

But Dr Tom Black, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland Council, firmly backed the DoH.

“Throughout this pandemic we have been clear that any decisions made regarding the easing of lockdown restrictions should be led by the science, data and how the R number reacts,” he said. “This will naturally mean some things will have to remain closed until we see the impacts of easing.”

QUB Emeritus Prof of virology Bert Rima also backed the DoH submission.

“I think that with current case numbers and level of vaccinations, this is indeed the trade off,” he said.

A Department for the Economy spokesman said education is an integral part of the economy.

“Any easing of restrictions will ultimately be for the Executive to decide and there is a broad acceptance across society that a sequential easing of restrictions is the best way to prevent any significant increase in the spread of COVID,” he said.

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