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No new coronavirus-related deaths were reported in Northern Ireland on Sunday.
The death toll reported by the North’s Department of Health is 537, after one death was reported on Saturday.
There have been another six further confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing the total recorded since the outbreak began to 4,796.
Scotland reported no further coronavirus deaths on Sunday, for the first time since lockdown began in the UK in March.
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Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster said on Saturday she hoped to be in a position by the end of the summer “where things are moving in the right direction and we are coming out” (of lockdown). “I suppose the worry then is, and the worry for us all, is the threat of a second wave of the pandemic, and that will be devastating if we don’t manage that because of course the economy is the main concern there,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking With Nick Robinson programme.
She said that she and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill found the shared experience of both their mothers being ill “brought out their humanity”. “Neither of our mothers thankfully had Covid-19, but both were admitted in or around the same time bizarrely, and so as well as dealing with everything that we have to deal with in government, we have to deal with the pressure of our mothers being in hospital ... that of course brings out the humanity in both of us,” she said.
Ms Foster said she has had moments when she wonders if the right thing is being done with regards to the pandemic after introducing strict social distancing measures, which she described as “some of the most draconian steps that have ever been taken in this country since World War Two”.
“It’s a huge responsibility so of course we have those moments, I have those moments, when you think about are you doing the right thing and you do lean heavily on our medical advisers at this time and then try to take the decisions based on what they tell us,” she said. “And I’m pleased to say that in terms of the number of deaths in Northern Ireland, we have managed to keep them as low as we possibly could and that has worked well.” – PA