Easing of restrictions must be gradual, says Swann

By PA

Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann said caution must be the watchword, as he delivered a daily press conference on Covid-19.

He said: “When it comes to the easing of any restrictions, we have to crawl before we walk, walk before we even think about running.

“If there are to be any changes in the next few weeks or months, they must be introduced gradually and carefully, and strictly monitored.”

He said new variants represent a considerable uncertainty.

“We cannot risk a swift and destructive surge of new cases, with our health service still reeling from the most recent surge,” he said.

Robin Swann said the Executive cannot walk the public out of one lockdown, only to end up falling into another in a small number of weeks.

He added: “We remember only too well what happened over the Christmas period, and how increased mixing led to a huge spike in cases.

“In the coming weeks, we have St Patrick’s Day and the Easter holidays – times when people traditionally meet up, for socialising, for family time.

“We must not let history repeat itself.”

Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer, Dr Michael McBride, envisaged “baby steps” out of lockdown.

He said: “Everyone needs hope and I have said many times before: there was a time before Covid and there will be a time after Covid.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel; there is hope and we will get there.”

Dr Michael McBride said intensive care was still under pressure but there was a “levelling out” of numbers.

The R number for ICU admissions is still above 1.

He noted a “continued fall” in the number of new Covid-19 patients requiring admission into hospital.

He said vaccines alone would not hold the virus in check and added he had stated the obvious about the long-term prognosis for the pandemic.

Robin Swann acknowledged “uncertainties and unknowns”.

He added: “As the chief medical officer has rightly made clear, some restrictions may be with us into the long-term.

“We may be wearing face coverings in shops and on public transport for a time to come.

“That kind of restriction may well become part of our new normal.

“This is not to say that lockdown – or partial lockdown – will roll on indefinitely.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. To be clear restrictions and lockdown are not the same thing.

“If we continue with the progress we are making, we can consider a careful, managed, easing of some measures – but only when and if the timing is right.”