Covid-19 health warning as NI enters ‘critical’ fortnight

During their now daily press conference, the first and deputy first ministers said the coming days would be “critical” and not a time for relaxing.

The warning came as the number deaths associated with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland rose to 70.

A further 69 cases of coronavirus have also been reported by they Public Health Agency (PHA), bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,158.

Monday was the first time that First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill led the press briefing remotely from their own homes.

Mrs Foster thanked those people who had heeded the guidance on staying safe through social distancing and said they must continue to do so.

“It is essential in this period that we do not relax our guard, especially in the lead-up to and during the Easter period,” she said.

The expected surge in Covid-19 cases is predicted to occur in Northern Ireland between April 6 and April 20.

Mrs Foster also tweeted the message: “This is a critical fortnight in the attempts to control the spread of #COVID19.

“We must not relax our guard and ensure that we all continue to follow the guidelines.”

Across the UK, the number of confirmed coronavirus hospital deaths in the UK has increased to 5,373 – up by 439 in a single day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 51,608.

In the Republic of Ireland there were another 16 deaths reported yesterday. The ROI death toll now stands at 174.

Ms O’Neill said the NI Executive would continue to reinforce the stay safe – stay at home message.

“This is not an Easter week holiday, or a time for people to be relaxing,” she said.

“It is a time for people to follow the letter of the law, the advice they have been given to stay at home and try to stop the spread.”

Ms O’Neill also said the executive’s other priority was to increase testing for the virus.

“There are plans to bring forward a rapid scale-up of testing, to increase testing of our health and social care workers, to increase testing for people in residential care settings,” she added.

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