North’s hospitality venues may close over Christmas if cases rise - Swann

The North's Minister for Health has warned hospitality venues in Northern Ireland could close over Christmas if the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase.

Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, Robin Swann said such a move "not inevitable" and he did not want to introduce further restrictions unless it was "completely unavoidable."

However he was critical of the level of compliance from “some” within the hospitality sector, saying he was “disappointed” they had “not acted as responsibly as the Executive had hoped” when social distancing rules were removed.

“Escalating pressures” being experienced in health trusts meant “additional measures are now required”, Mr Swann said, and it was for this reason ministers had agreed last week to make Covid vaccination certificates mandatory for certain venues.

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Ministers are due to meet again on Tuesday morning to continue discussing proposals from Mr Swann to limit the spread of Covid-19 after an Executive meeting on Monday ended without agreement.

An Executive Office spokeswoman said the Executive’s meeting on Monday had been “constructive and progress was made [AND]it was agreed that more work was required.”

The plans under discussion include tougher advice on working from home and a “scores on the doors” similar to that used for food safety standards which would measure businesses’ compliance to Covid rules.

A further three deaths and 1,469 new cases of Covid-19 were reported by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on Monday. A total of 378 people are receiving hospital for Covid-19 in the North, with 36 in intensive care.

The Minister for Justice, Naomi Long, told the BBC's Evening Extra programme on Monday that ministers are considering "how we actually try to get the basics right and get people to comply with things like handwashing, wearing masks, trying to voluntarily reduce their number of close contacts, trying to ensure where people can work from home, they do work from home."

She said ministers were “not planning for Christmas closures” and their focus was “not on closure but on trying to keep businesses open.”

Ms Long also said it was not for her department to take the lead on enforcing mask-wearing because it did not have any enforcement powers.

“I think if we turn this into a justice issue then the automatic presumption will be it’s for the police to enforce, and it isn’t that simple. We all need to take personal responsibility, businesses need to step up,” she said.

Among the proposals put to the Executive in Mr Swann’s paper was the suggestion that Ms Long’s department should take the lead in raising compliance regarding mask-wearing to over 80 per cent.

Ms Long played down the division, saying it had become “something of a storm in a teacup” and it was “not unusual for the department to write a paper, for other departments to give feedback and for that paper to then be amended.

“The difficulty of course comes when a paper is then leaked and it looks as though there is a row between ministers. The ministers are very much agreed that we need to see a step up in terms of the level of personal responsibility ... we’re all focused on the same objective,” she said.