Places of worship in Northern Ireland are to reopen from June 29th and hairdressers, barbers and nail bars from July 6th as part of further significant easing of the coronavirus restrictions announced by the Northern Executive on Thursday.
The North's First Minister, Arlene Foster, said these were "indicative" dates which were dependent on the virus "remaining under control" and would be confirmed nearer the time as long as the reproductive rate of the virus – referring to how many other people a confirmed case went on to infect – remained under one.
Ms Foster also announced details of the Executive’s plan for pupils to return to school which she described as a “major step forward towards normality in our schools”.
Pupils in the final year of primary school and in school years 12 and 14, as well as vulnerable children in all year groups, will start school a week early, from August 24th, with the remainder returning the following week.
If physical distancing was still required, Ms Foster said, the Executive had agreed on the basis of scientific and medical advice that “schools plan on the basis of 1m distancing between pupils”. Individual classes up until year 10 will also be regarded as a protective bubble.
Teachers will return to work from August 17th, and are to maintain a 2m distance between themselves and pupils.
Ms Foster said the Education Minister had indicated that this would “allow the school attendance pattern to return close to normality”. Guidance is to be issued to schools on Friday.
The Executive’s objective, she said, was to “see a full-time return to classroom learning for all pupils as soon as possible when safe to do so”.
Childcare
Childcare will also reopen to all families, not just the children of key workers, from July 1st, and there will no limit to capacity with the exception of registered childminders. From July 29th they will be able to provide childcare to four families, and this will rise to five families in August.
Plans were also announced for summer schemes for children with special educational needs and summer programmes for the children of key workers.
A summer food scheme will be established for up to 10,000 young people, and a business case has been put forward to allow the Executive to extend free school meal provision over the holidays.
The Department of Health in Northern Ireland announced on Thursday that, as of June 16th, the R rate or reproductive rate of the virus was between 0.6 and 0.9. The seven-day rolling average of new cases was eight.
No further coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in the North on Thursday for the seventh time in the last 12 days. The total number of fatalities reported by the department stands at 543.
One person tested positive for the virus in the last 24-hour period, and 1,027 tests were carried out. In total, there have been 4,863 confirmed cases of the virus in Northern Ireland.
Shielding
Individuals in Northern Ireland who have been instructed to shield will no longer need to do so from July 31st, as long as the rate of community transmission remains low.
Letters will be issued to the 95,000 people in receipt of shielding advice to inform them of the planned change, the department said.
The Deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, said the evidence presented to the Executive on Thursday had been that “community transmission is low”, and this gave “some headroom to enable us to signal our intention to make further easements, conditional easements, as per our plan”.
“This is a positive development for the economy as well as the wider wellbeing of the population,” she said.
Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Catholic Primate of All Ireland, welcomed the decision to reopen churches in Northern Ireland, and said it was "particularly helpful" that this would take place at the same time as in the Republic. "Parishes in cross-Border communities will be able to plan together for a safe return to Mass at the same time," he said.
“I have been heartened by the amount of preparation which is already ongoing in our parishes to ensure that our sacred spaces will be as safe as possible when we begin to gather again together in prayer.
“I expect that we will be beginning in a cautious way at first, and there will be a need for ongoing patience and careful monitoring of the situation.”
