The great majority of people in Northern Ireland have reacted responsibly to crisis

There has also been concern at reports of businesses putting unfair demands on workers.

Neither of these situations is acceptable, and it is welcome that the PSNI — after an alarming delay at Stormont, the source of which will at some stage have to be explained — now have the power to tackle it.

But at the same time, it is important to acknowledge the patient and conscientious way in which the great bulk of the Northern Ireland population have behaved responsibly.

Anyone who was out on a permissible journey in the Province on Saturday is likely to have noticed the way people were walking mostly in ones or twos, and how they were patiently queuing outside take-away restaurants or stores.

It was an almost moving reflection on the community spirit that will be so important in the coming months.

Restrictions will, as officials in London made clear yesterday, last for months in some shape or form.

But while clarification on police powers was essential and overdue, it is far from clear that Stormont needed to go the extra step and put pressure on businesses over staying open.

While workers must be kept safe (and it was refreshing to hear Edwin Poots and Diane Dodds on Saturday praise these vital employees, see link below) there is a wider need to keep the economy going. This is all the more vital given that the lockdowns are now expected to last so far into the future.

Stormont on Saturday released a list of exempt businesses, but helpfully said that they were not the only businesses that can operate. Whole swathes of life from gardening to insurance will need to go on over the summer and beyond.

The DUP has admirably held out against the wilder political demands at this time, and rightly challenged Belfast on bin collections. The latter is now saying it will collect brown bins after all.

• Poots and Dodds: We pay tribute to vital farm and factory workers