New Covid restrictions not inevitable, says Health Minister

Concerns have risen in Northern Ireland about the rapid rate at which the Omicron variant is spreading in parts of Great Britain.

Robin Swann (Liam McBurney/PA) (PA Wire)

New Covid restrictions are not inevitable for Northern Ireland in January, Robin Swann has said.

The Health Minister said there are concerns about the Omicron variant, but until further information is available people should continue to do the things that are known to combat the virus.

He made his comments after First Minister Paul Givan said there were no plans to change Covid regulations in Northern Ireland over the Christmas period.

(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics)

Concerns have risen about the rapid rate at which the Omicron variant is spreading in parts of Great Britain where case numbers are doubling every two to three days.

Stormont Executive ministers met on Thursday to discuss the situation but recommended no changes to current rules, instead emphasising the need for compliance with existing measures.

However, Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer, Sir Michael McBride, warned on Thursday that some Covid restrictions such as social distancing may need to be reintroduced in January.

Northern Ireland’s chief medical officer, Sir Michael McBride, has warned that more Covid restrictions may be introduced in January (Brian Lawless/PA) (PA Wire)

Mr Swann told the PA news agency: “In regards to Omicron, we are watching what is happening across the rest of the world but also in England and Scotland in regards to the veracity, the ability of transmit, but also how that translates into hospitalisations as well.

“Until we see what is actually in front of us we will take each day as it comes.

“There are always concerns that a new mutation will add additional challenges, but until we get the final readout in regards to transmissibility, hospitalisations and also vaccine escape as well, let’s use the things that we know actually work now.

“I don’t think they (new restrictions) are inevitable, but let’s not kid ourselves that they may not be needed come January in regards to where we are.”

There are no plans to change what we are doing in the run-up to Christmas and through that period

Paul Givan

Asked about whether current restrictions were enough, Mr Givan said politicians were following advice from health officials.

He said: “The travel of direction in England and in Scotland is moving at a different pace in Northern Ireland, so our health advice that we have is that the current measures in place are sufficient to get us through that Christmas period.

“Our plans will continue to operate on that basis, with the public working with us to have those levels of adherence that we need to see.

“But there are no plans to change what we are doing in the run-up to Christmas and through that period.”

Asked whether he would advise people to attend Christmas parties, the First Minister said: “We want to keep things open and to do things safely, so people should continue to make their plans now and in the run-up to Christmas, but to do it safely and to follow the public health advice around that.”

(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics)

Last week new restrictions were announced for the hospitality sector in the Republic, including the closure of nightclubs.

Responding to concerns about different regulations on each side of the border, Mr Givan said: “It is a point that I have made around effective communication so that we know what is happening in the Republic of Ireland, so that when they take decisions around hospitality or the closure of their nightclubs, of course that can have a knock-on impact on the movement of people across the border.

“I spoke directly to the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, and Simon Coveney last week about this because when they made changes to the Common Travel Area and people flying from Great Britain into Dublin, Northern Ireland was a back door because we weren’t being subjected to the same rules.

“I said to both individuals that that wasn’t good enough, that they hadn’t effectively communicated with the Northern Ireland Executive before that decision was made.

Paul Givan said he had spoken directly to the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, about communicating changes in regulations in the Republic of Ireland (Damien Storan/PA) (PA Wire)

“That is why at the Executive we have called that the Irish Government need to be properly engaging and communicating, not just with the Northern Ireland Executive but with Scotland, Wales and England, because decisions which are taken within one jurisdiction in these islands does have a knock-on impact on others.”

Mr Givan said he would take part in a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee on Friday to discuss the UK-wide response to the Omicron variant.

He added: “The Prime Minister has called a meeting of the Cobra committee. It is to share information in terms of the current data analysis which is taking place.

“Also what kind of policy responses would be considered and to have a greater joined-up approach across the United Kingdom.

“With the four-nations meeting that was held earlier in the week that Michael Gove chaired, both the Scottish and Welsh first ministers were asking for a meeting of the Cobra committee. I supported them in that call, so I welcome that this has been escalated by the Prime Minister.”

The deaths of a further two patients who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 have been confirmed in Northern Ireland.

Another 1,806 cases of the virus were also notified.

On Friday morning there were 317 Covid-positive patients in hospital, with 40 in intensive care.