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Stormont\u2019s leaders have announced some minor relaxations of Northern Ireland\u2019s coronavirus lockdown measures.<\/p>\nStormont\u2019s leaders have announced some minor relaxations of Northern Ireland\u2019s coronavirus lockdown measures.<\/p>\n
Garden centers and household recycling centers will be able to reopen on Monday.<\/p>\n
Marriage ceremonies involving someone who is suffering from a terminal illness will also be allowed from next week.<\/p>\n
The move comes after a meeting of the power-sharing executive on Thursday.<\/p>\n
First Minister Arlene Foster, who revealed Northern Ireland\u2019s infection rate (R rate) had dropped to below 0.7, said the announcement represented \u201cvery tentative first steps toward recovery\u201d.<\/p>\n
The R rate is the number of people an infected person passes the disease to.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that everyone understands that the process of relaxing restrictions will be incremental and there won\u2019t be a dramatic shift in relation to the lifting of restrictions,\u201d said Mrs Foster.<\/p>\n
Deaths among those who have tested positive for coronavirus rose to 454 in the region on Thursday, after a further five fatalities were announced.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland\u2019s lockdown exit plan sets out a five-step process, but does not assign projected dates for any of the stages.<\/p>\n
Deputy First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill said the executive would \u201cmove towards step one\u201d of the exit plan on Monday when further relaxations would be announced.<\/p>\n
She described Thursday\u2019s announcements as \u201cbaby steps\u201d.<\/p>\n
The ministers also committed to publish their decision-making matrix each day going forward, to give the public sight of what factors were influencing moves around restrictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must remember that the regulations are in place to save lives and the executive does not take decisions on whether to maintain or indeed to relax the restrictions lightly,\u201d said Ms O\u2018Neill.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery decision is carefully judged based on an evaluation of risks and potential benefits. Our ability to recover from coronavirus will be a partnership and the partnership effort involves every single member of society.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, as our partners in that recovery plan, it is right that we\u2019re open and honest with the public about how we make our assessments and how we arrive at those most important decisions on your behalf.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we have agreed to publish the decision making matrix that we use to inform those judgments.\u201d<\/p>\n