Coronavirus: Northern Ireland needs extra testing and clarity on its border policies says think-tank

Those are the views of the think-tank Pivotal, which has released a 23-page document about Northern Ireland’s response to the coronavirus crisis, and compared it to other nations including South Korea, Spain and the Republic of Ireland.

The think-tank was founded last year, and describes itself as independent from “any single individual, organisation, political party, or ideology” – adding it is “Northern Ireland’s only independent think-tank”.

It says its role is “fostering debate about the future, unlike traditional political discourse, tending too often to divide, and look backwards”.

Among its trustees are former assistant chief constable Peter Sheridan, and Richard Good, former general secretary of the Alliance Party.

Its director is Ann Watt, the former head of the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland.

Its report,’Moving out of Lockdown’, says the recent commitment from the health minister to extend testing to anyone aged over five with symptoms is “very welcome”, but that testing should also be extended to non-symptomatic people who are in contact with any at-risk individuals – not just those in care homes.

It also says that local contact tracing (being able to discover who each infected person has been near) needs to work in tandem with the Republic’s system, due to the number of people crossing the border every day.

It also says that “evidence from other countries indicates that border control has been a significant part of C-19 management”.

It adds that whilst the UK government intends to impose a 14-day quarantine on new travellers entering the UK, “there is currently no guidance for international visitors arriving into Northern Ireland”.

“The UK government intends to impose a 14-day quarantine on new travellers entering the UK. This policy would not apply to travellers from Ireland. The Irish government intend to introduce a mandatory 14-day quarantine period on arrival to Ireland from May 28. This quarantine period will not apply to passengers arriving from Northern Ireland. It is unclear how this quarantine would be enforced for onward travel to Northern Ireland.”