Coronavirus Northern Ireland: Further 18 deaths and 1,378 new cases as Executive meets over restrictions

An order for people in Northern Ireland to stay at home will become legally enforceable from Friday, it has been confirmed.

he advice is to be put into legislation from midnight on Thursday, with additional powers being given to the PSNI to enforce the measures.

Household mixing will be reduced to just one person from another household or social bubble, with indoor and outdoor gatherings reduced from 15 people to six.

The move was agreed by the Executive after it met on Tuesday, along with the tightening of other measures.

People will only be allowed to leave home for medical needs, to buy food or to exercise. Those who cannot work from home will also be allowed leave.

Up to six people from one household will be allowed meet in a private garden.

It was agreed the measures will last until February 6 with a review expected on January 21.

Schools in Northern Ireland are also set to undertake remote learning until the mid-term break, it was also confirmed.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said the decision was a reflection "on how serious the situation is" with the pandemic.

However, the issue of whether exams such as GCSEs will go ahead will has not been resolved. It is understood the Education Minister will bring proposals to the Executive on Wednesday.

Childcare and special education schools are to remain open, the Deputy First Minister said.

Test administrators AQE said a single transfer test will be held on Saturday February 27.

The AQE board said it is now planning to go ahead with a single test paper following the cancellation of transfer tests in January.

After announcing that the January tests would be cancelled, the first due to take place this Saturday, AQE hadn’t ruled out the possibility of conducting the tests at a later date.

AQE said they had now taken the decision following a meeting with schools on Tuesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed a further 18 people in Northern Ireland had died after testing positive for Covid-19. 1,378 new cases of the virus have been reported.

It brings the death toll to 1,384 and the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak to 81,251. Some 12,487 people have tested positive in the past seven days.

Of the 18 fatalities, 11 happened within the current reporting period, from 10am on Monday to 10am on Tuesday, while the remaining seven deaths happened previously.

There are currently 577 Covid patients in hospitals across Northern Ireland, with 45 in intensive care and 34 requiring ventilation. Hospitals are operating at 101% capacity.

A total of 131 care homes are dealing with outbreaks of the virus.

Executive discussions are ongoing on new measures set to be imposed in Northern Ireland and a sitting of the Assembly has been scheduled for Wednesday to brief MLAs on decisions taken.

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Belfast Telegraph