Alarming data on the cost of Covid in Northern Ireland, but also reasons for hope

We report today how the furlough scheme alone has cost maybe £2 billion a year in the Province.

We also cover the fact that some of the largest sectors of the local economy, such as manufacturing and hospitality, have shown greater reliance on furlough than other UK regions.

Meanwhile, Belfast city centre might only have 5% of its office workforce back at their desks.

These are immense challenges.

While it is important that our local politicians push for every penny of funding that they can get from London, there needs to be realism about the fact that change is coming, and that savings will have to be made. The Treasury simply cannot afford to dole out funds indefinitely to sustain millions of people out of work on most of their previous working wage, without national bankruptcy.

However, there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful.

First, while there are flare ups of Covid-19 across the UK and Ireland, as yet the death rates are extraordinarily low. Hospital admissions are the same. The reasons for this are not clear but it could yet mean that the worst of the pandemic is past.

Also, schools are fully back now and some of the hysterical concerns have subsided. Children still show little signs of symptoms if infected.

Further, the now closed eat out scheme and the booming demand in parts of the domestic holiday industry have shown that pent up demand is a real factor in a range of spheres.

It is far too early to predict a V shaped recovery, but not unreasonable to try to encourage one.

Finally, wasteful expenditure must be a thing of the past.

NHS provision reform in NI is long overdue, to get the best value care. And the vast outlay on, for example, multiple legal aid funded civil actions against the state forces in legacy cases must be curbed.

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