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A FURTHER 234 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Northern Ireland.
In its daily update, the NI Department of Health said that a further four people with Covid-19 have died, bringing the death toll to 2,000.
The latest figures bring the number of deaths on the island of Ireland since the start of the pandemic to almost 6,000.
Case numbers have declined significantly in Northern Ireland in recent weeks. It has been under strict lockdown restrictions since St Stephen’s Day.
Last night, there were 477 patients in Northern Irish hospitals with Covid-19, down from 655 a week ago. There are 59 patients with Covid-19 in an intensive care unit.
Over 400,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Northern Ireland so far, with the vast majority of these being first doses.
The Stormont Executive is set to discuss the re-opening of schools later this week.
Most schools have been closed since before the Christmas break as part of the lockdown.
Special schools have remained open and mainstream schools are open for the children of key workers.
Speaking earlier today, NI Public Health Agency official Dr Joanne McClean said that the risk of Covid-19 transmission is higher at school gates than in the classroom.
Schools are not the major source of transmission … the risk for the staff in the classroom is not higher than other workforces and part of that is due to the excellent measures that schools have put in place,” she told the BBC’s Stephen Nolan Show.
“Schools have done a huge amount, principals have worked themselves into the ground from September onwards to introduce ways of working in schools that are completely new to them.
But she added that children and staff “cannot be magicked” into school classrooms.
“There are two bits to this, there’s the bit that goes on in the classroom that schools can control … and then there is the bit that goes on outside the gates,” she said.
Dr McClean said schools being open adds an estimated 0.3-0.6 to the reproduction number, or R value, of the virus.
“Every single contact matters, where people meet, coronavirus has the opportunity to spread and this is why it is so difficult for the Executive, they have to strike a balance between keeping every single one of our interactions to a minimum but also allowing society to function is some way,” she said.
“Overall the message for every single one of us still is every single contact matters, keep your contacts as low as possible, stay at home and only have contact with other people when you really have to.”
With reporting from PA
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If a company like Pfizer can vaccinate their entire workforce and now starting to vaccinate their families as well, shouldn’t questions be asked why they can’t provide the same service to the Irish taxpayer considering they are looked after handsomely with our low corporate tax rate
@Murph11: Provide the vaccines free ? Favour us over other countries ? Worth remembering as well, those low corporate tax rates provide thousands of workers with well paid jobs, from which the exchequer is looked after handsomely by way of income tax receipts.
@Tommy Roche: I fully understand Tommy. I’m a frontline worker and was classed as such prior to the pandemic. I still have to go out and deal with what I always dealt with and haven’t even been prioritised yet. Just annoys me
@Murph11: honest to god. You might as well ask if Dublin GAA can outfit their whole squads and coaches with gear, why can’t they do it for every Dub?
@Murph11: they have been working extremely hard the last 14 months. A lot of places give their staff perks. This must be one of the best. We’ll done all in Pfizer and thanks. Thanks for the other special pill also !
I do not trust the vaccination go to the fda and its not approved their head has said they will not be approved until fully agreed its safe for everyone, why are our elderly parents in homes who have had their 2 doses of the vaccination not been given their freedom too see and hug their loved ones, why are people who are fully vacanated told to act if they are not we can’t were a mask forever, 99.9 percent of our population have survived we want our life back, to hug to see smiles and breath fresh air love to all
@John Leonard: because people who are vaccinated can still pass the virus on to people who aren’t vaccinated so until enough people are vaccinated things can’t go back to how they were.
Provides less than 5% of irelands vaccines so far. So these people will be waiting
@john s: got my Moderna on Sunday. Haven’t met to many people who have had it. Just a sore arm so far, no mad zombies symptoms as of yet.
@Ann Mc Shane: my sister in the US got it, second dose last week caused some discomfort, shakes, nausea, headache.
Recommendations over there are to take in plenty of water in the two days prior to the second dose.
@Ann Mc Shane: My neighbour in her late 60s got the Moderna. She’s the only one I know who did, but she said she had no side effects at all.
@Derdaly: yeah just a sore arm but to be expected. Supposedly one of the best ones to take
If it was good enough for Dolly Parton, it would be good enough for me.
Not great but better than nothing.
I got it
That’s good re Moderna. Where are the rest of them in this? 1.3 billion people in India and they’re making most vax.
have your say