Arlene Foster: This is not a second lockdown, this is a wake-up call

In a televised address tonight, the first minister said the community must adhere to a new range of restrictions as we face “one big push” to halt the spread of Covid-19.

However, Mrs Foster stressed that the reopening of many hospitality venues will continue with appropriate social-distancing measures in place.

“This is not a second lockdown – this is a wake-up call,” she said.

Mrs Foster, along with Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, was speaking immediately after Boris Johnson addressed a UK-wide audience with what the DUP leader described as a “sobering assessment of the choices we face as a nation”.

“As we are all now very aware, this deadly virus has crept into communities in every county in Northern Ireland,” Mrs Foster said.

Renewed anti-Covid measures include: no mixing of households indoors, with a number of exceptions including caring responsibilities and essential maintenance, and no more than six people can gather in a private garden.

Mrs Foster added: “We are now reporting the highest number of cases that we have seen since the early stages of Covid. And there has been a rise in hospital admissions.

“We need to act. But I want to reassure you ... this is not a second lockdown. This is a wake-up call. A reminder that we are not out of the woods.”

Ms O’Neill said: “We live on an island, and we need a co-ordinated all-island approach. Dublin knows that, we in Belfast know that and London knows that. We need full co-operation on this island, and between these islands in our fightback against Covid.

“This island is a single epidemiological unit and we must maximise the protection that affords us.”