Covid restrictions in Northern Ireland imposed to combat the Omicron variant are being axed from midday today.
Stormont ministers reached an agreement to ease curbs on a large scale, which included Covid passes to allow access to bars, restaurants, cinemas and other venues.
Boxing Day forced nightclubs to close. They will be reopened later with indoor standing events.
But so-called ‘vaccine passports’ will still be required for entry to access nightclubs and large events, while guidance on Covid certification in hospitality settings will be ‘strongly encouraged’.
Although social distancing in office offices is being eliminated, the Stormont Executive refused to remove official WFH guidance. Instead, it encouraged people to work remotely where possible.
Ministers will meet again on February 10 to review the remaining curbs in the UK province – which include compulsory masks, track and trace in hospitality, and the use of Covid certification in nightclubs.
Stormont has been advised by health officials that Omicron’s threat is over. First Minister Paul Givan last week insisted it was his ‘continued view’ that vaccine passports should be scrapped in all settings.
However, business leaders have been encouraging ministers from Northern Ireland to take the lead of Scotland’s and Wales’ devolved governments and loosen any remaining Covid restrictions.
Revellers drinking at the Harp Bar in Belfast City Centre on January 21, 2022
The latest data from the Department of Health shows that five more people have been confirmed to be positive for Covid-19. Additional 5,023 confirmed cases also received notification in the 24 hour reporting period. There were 393 Covid-19 patients in hospital on Tuesday morning. 21 of them were in ICUs.
Belfast Chamber chief executive Simon Hamilton raged that predictions about how hard Omicron would hit had been ‘wide of the mark’, but warned that the effect of restrictions on businesses was ‘very real’.
Mr Hamilton said: ‘Thankfully, the predictions of experts and some politicians about how hard Omicron would hit us were wide of the mark.
‘The effect on the businesses impacted by the restrictions that were introduced has been very real.’
Last week, Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts urged Stormont to axe Covid curbs and move Northern Ireland towards ‘some sort of normality’.
‘The Executive needs to outline a road map toward the full reopening of our economy and a return to some sort of normality,’ he said.
‘We now need a clear and managed plan to safely remove the Covid-19 restrictions and an immediate move to five days isolation to support our members with staff absences.’
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Northern Ireland needs a ‘clear and managed road map’ for the easing of curbs.
Following their Executive meeting in Derry, Paul Givan (first minister) and Michelle O’Neill (second minister), spoke at Ebrington Square.
Based on the data of the Office for National Statistics (which counts all death certificates that include Covid), this graph displays the cumulative Covid deaths rate for each country in the UK. The graph shows that Wales is the country with the highest Covid-related death rate, despite strict controls.
The Department of Health has shown the Death Rate for England over Time, as a function of the number of people who died in the seven preceding days. Data from separate sources, including death certificates from Office for National Statistics, show that Wales is the country with the highest cumulative rate of death. England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are close behind.
This chart shows the Covid hospitalization rates in each of the UK’s four countries during the pandemic. This graph shows that although England rose to its highest point during the Omicron wave it is now falling largely in line with the trend of the other three countries.
Above is the average infection rate for the UK’s four countries over the past decade. Northern Ireland is the country with the highest infect rate, despite having to abide by stricter restrictions. England is the country with the highest infection rate, but it had the lowest rates between Christmas and New Year.
In the meantime, travellers from overseas who have been fully vaccinated and are travelling to Northern Ireland will not need to undergo Covid testing starting February 11.
The latest data from the Department of Health shows that five more people have been confirmed to be positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland. The virus has been confirmed in another 5,023 people.
Monday morning saw 393 Covid-19 patients in hospital. 21 were in ICUs.
It come as Northern Ireland’s Education Minister has said she hopes that exams will go ahead as normal later this year.
Yesterday, Michelle McIlveen informed Assembly members that her plans were for state exams to take place within the next few months. Any alternative system would be similar to the 2021 process.
SDLP MLA Pat Catney asked the education minister to discuss the possibility of using algorithms in the exam process.
Grades in Northern Ireland last year were based upon teacher assessments.
After formal exams were cancelled due to the pandemic coronavirus, this system was implemented. Grades were not given in formal exams. Teachers assessed the students and determined their grades through a 5-stage process.
However, this did not contain the 2020 standardised statistical algorithm for A-level results. This caused outrage when more than a quarter of grade predictions by teachers were reduced.
Teachers, students and parents protested the issue. The original teacher-assessed grades were then issued.
Miss McIlveen said: ‘It would be my intention that exams will proceed if at all possible and I know that that’s also the intention of the other jurisdictions.
She said that she was in touch with Robin Walker, the junior minister of Education.
‘Certainly he didn’t lead me to believe that it wasn’t his intention to do anything otherwise,’ she said.
She said that there was a meeting of the four regions later this week ‘in order to discuss various options in relation to how Covid is being dealt with, but in particular, examinations’.
Miss McIlveen stated that officials from her department were working closely with other civil servants across the UK to address the exam issue.