Don’t expect any dramatic end to coronavirus lockdown, warn ministers

As Stormont diverges from both London and Dublin which have been faster to set out plans for how to ease curbs on civil liberties and restart much economic activity, the Executive moved to manage public expectations that anything similar is likely to be happening here.

Today the Executive met to discuss its plan for how to move out of the current situation but even though that document will not contain even an indicative timetable and is expected to be vaguer than what is happening in neighbouring jurisdictions, the Executive was unable to agree to the plan.

Instead ministers are hoping that they can agree on a revised version of the strategy tomorrow before bringing it to the Assembly and making it public.

Today the Department of Health announced three more deaths of those who have tested positive for Covid-19.

Trade union Unite said that a female worker at Moy Park’s Dungannon chicken processing factory had died with Covid-19 and pressed Stormont to take seriously workers concerns about their safety.

In March a worker at the site raised concerns with the News Letter, sending us a photo of its canteen in which people were not being socially distanced.

At the time the company insisted that it had changed in practices in response to the concerns.

At the time of going to press the company had made no comment on its employee’s death.

Today the Executive appeared united in attempting to put distance between Boris Johnson’s new ‘stay alert’ message and what ministers said would continue to be Stormont’s message of ‘stay at home, save lives, protect the NHS’.

Speaking at the Executive’s daily press conference, DUP junior minister Gordon Lyons said that the Executive was working with the Government in London as well as the devolved administrations in Cardiff, Edinburgh, and the Irish Government.

He said: “The reality is that devolved administrations are going to diverge slightly and at particular points in time, mindful of the different circumstances in each region, including the stage the spread of the disease is at.”

He went on to caution: “There will be no dramatic lifting of resistance - each step will be incremental and cautious; social distancing is going to be with us for a very long time.”

Just as it has become a reality of how we shop, it will become a reality of how we work together, study together, how we socialise, and even how we worship.”

Sinn Féin junior minister Declan Kearney said that while Mr Johnson had spoken for “England” that “we cannot allow that to become a distraction to the very clear message coming from this Executive to stay at home and save lives”.

He said the Executive would “not set arbitrary time frames for easing certain restrictions”.Referring to the recovery strategy for how Northern Ireland will move out of the crisis, he said that the Executive had a “detailed and positive discussion about that strategy today” and said there was “further progress on our plan” but added that “further work will need to be done on that plan over the next 24 hours”.

With garden centres in England set to re-open this week, Mr Lyons hinted that he supports fellow DUP minister Edwin Poots’s belief that they should re-open where social distancing is possible. Mr Lyons stressed that it was important to consider the population’s mental wellbeing and that if the Executive is asking people to stay at home it could help to give people more to do at home, such as gardening.

However, Mr Kearney gave no indication that Sinn Féin agrees with that view.

The Stormont plan to be published tomorrow will not include dates but will instead focus on the scientific and public health criteria that must be met for each relaxation of restrictions.

The Press Association tonight reported that gatherings of four to six people in outdoor locations, with social distancing measures in place, will be permitted in the first step of the plan, perhaps at the end of this month.

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