Northern Ireland students could return to school in late August

Some Northern Ireland pupils could return to school in late August with a phased return for other students starting in September, said the North's Minister for Education Peter Weir on Thursday.

Mr Weir indicated that pupils in key primary and post-primary classes might start returning to school towards the end of August.

He was not specific but these could include primary school pupils preparing to take entrance exams to get them into second-level schools and post-primary students doing GCSE and A-level exams.

Openings would be based on medical advice and would begin with “limited provision for key cohort years in August, followed by a phased provision for all pupils at the beginning of September. This will not be a return to school as it was prior to Covid-19, but rather a new normal reflective of social distancing and a medically safe regime. For all pupils it will involve a schedule with a mixture of school attendance and remote learning at home,” said Mr Weir.

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Meanwhile, the Department of Health reported on Thursday afternoon that seven more people have died from Covid-19 in Northern Ireland bringing the total number of fatalities in the North to 501.

The department also reported 42 new cases of coronavirus taking the number of confirmed cases in the North to 4,481. So far 42,554 people have been tested for the disease in Northern Ireland.

The department’s figures mainly relate to hospital deaths. When all care and community fatalities are taken into account the overall deaths’ figure is expected to be considerably higher than 501.

The ages of all but one of those who died are known. Of that 500 259 were men, 241 were women; 332 were aged 80 or over; 146 were in the age group 60-79; 21 in the group 40-59; and one in the age group 20-39.

The highest number of deaths was in the Belfast City Council area – 155 – and the lowest – 10 – in the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area.

And as the North's lockdown very gradually eases the Minister for Agriculture Edwin Poots said that forests and country parks run by his department would start lifting restrictions on people using these amenities.

“Our estate has been restricted to the public since late March in an effort to slow down the spread of Covid-19,” said Mr Poots. “But I am very aware of how much people have missed our outdoor spaces and doing the things they love like walking, cycling and running – the things that are good for our hearts and good for our minds.”

He had therefore asked his department to make the necessary arrangements for department-owned forests and country parks to gradually lift restrictions on a phased basis, starting with the reopening of car parks next Wednesday.

“Following discussions facilitated by my department many other organisations including councils, have now indicated that they too will begin to reopen their car parks at many of their sites on that date.