Ministers to consider restrictions next week

Ministers will convene on Wednesday to decide what steps will be required in response to the threat posed by the omicron variant.

First Minister Paul Givan said the Executive “did not want to cancel Christmas” but urged the public to be careful over the holiday period.

Speaking following an Executive meeting yesterday where Mr Givan and other ministers discussed the threat from omicron, he said: “My overall message to people, we are not wanting to cancel Christmas but we are asking people to be careful over the Christmas period and follow the good advice around public health.

“I want us to continue to remain open and to do that safely.

“So get your jab, follow the public health advice and that will all be of great assistance to us in the Executive.”

Mr Givan said the spread of omicron in Northern Ireland was behind England and Scotland and that presented space to allow more adults to get their booster vaccine.

He also said if measures were introduced post-Christmas, he did not anticipate them being as severe as last year, when a six-week lockdown was triggered on December 26.

The first minister also called for flexibility from the Treasury in awarding funding to allow devolved regions to take measures to combat Covid.

Ministers received a stark briefing from officials on what the next number of weeks could hold if action is not taken.

After yesterday’s meeting, Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill tweeted: “More data available next week, which will give a clearer picture of impacts and steps we may need to take. Evidence shows that getting booster vaccine is vital in our defence – please get yours.”

The Department of Health briefing paper, seen by the PA news agency, outlines how Omicron is expected to spread in the region.

It stressed the severity of the variant remains “uncertain” and it is likely that booster vaccinations offer protection against severe illness.

“It is likely that a peak in case numbers will occur in the middle third of January, with hospital admissions and occupancy peaking in late January/early February,” the paper added. “The extent of the hospital peak will depend on the severity of omicron illness, but without further measures is likely to exceed numbers observed earlier in the epidemic potentially several fold.”