STORMONT ministers are unlikely to ease lockdown restrictions in the North of Ireland when they meet later on Thursday to review them.
A six-week lockdown began on Boxing Day, December 26, to help control a spike in Covid-19 cases.
It was the third time that the Derry and Strabane council went into lockdown. The council are had gone into a second lockdown on October 5 after a huge spike in cases.
Many sectors had to close and the Executive pledged to review the lockdown after four weeks.
It is now expected that the restriction could run past St Patrick’s Day, March 17 and even up until Easter Sunday, April 4 to prevent people gathering indoors which could spark further infections.
The North’s health service is set to face bigger pressures this weekend than at any other time during the pandemic.
While it is thought the number of hospital admissions has peaked, Health Minister Robin Swann said intensive care pressures were likely to increase further in the next week.
He has announced that members of the military are to be brought in to help medical staff in Northern Ireland in the fight against Covid-19.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Swann said he would not pre-empt the outcome of Thursday’s meeting but confirmed he would bring recommendations from his officials.
“This is not the time to open floodgates or take premature decisions that would lead to another spike in cases,” he added.
The lockdown saw additional measures put in place on 8 January, with people told they should only leave home for exercise, food and medical needs or if they cannot work from home.
Ministers and health officials have said the restrictions have had an impact on the reproductive rate of the virus – known as the R-number – which measures the infection rate of Covid-19.
It had risen to about 1.8 due to Christmas relaxations.
By last week, it had fallen to between 0.7 and 0.9 for cases within the community, but was still sitting between 1.2 and 1.4 for hospital admissions.
Mr Swann has already said it is “highly unlikely” that restrictions will end after the six-week lockdown.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride warned that the virus would not “magically disappear” on 6 February,
He said as many as possible clinically vulnerable people would need to have received their first vaccine before “significant relaxations” could be considered by the executive.
Meanwhile from today, Thursday, January 21, all international passengers are required by law to present a negative test before arriving in Northern Ireland.
However, there are currently no international flights arriving in Northern Ireland.
Safety measures in place at City of Derry Airport
When international flights resume, travel operators will be committing an offence if they permit travel without the necessary proof of a negative test.
Any operators found to be in breach of the regulation will be fined up to £10,000.
If a traveller arrives in Northern Ireland without the necessary proof of a negative test, and without a reasonable excuse, they could face fines starting at £500.
On Monday, all travel corridors into the United Kingdom were closed, so all international arrivals have to self-isolate for 10 days, unless they test negative after five days.
The measures do not apply to people travelling from other parts of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, known as the Common Travel Area.
Passengers arriving into the Republic of Ireland have had to provide a negative Covid-19 test before departure since last Saturday, and that requirement also applies to passengers travelling to the Republic from Great Britain.
Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann said the tests, which must be taken within the 72-hour period before departure, “will provide another layer of protection to help reduce the risk of imported infections, while national lockdown and vaccination take effect”.
He added: “The move is in addition to other robust existing measures such as the removal of travel corridors and the self-isolation requirement, regardless of pre-departure test result.”
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