IT is more likely than not that further Covid-19 restrictions will be recommended before Christmas, the North’s chief scientific adviser has warned.
Professor Ian Young said mid-December could be the “big risk period”.
Christmas “cannot be completely normal” as allowing people to interact will increase the risks, he added.
Some of the current restrictions are due to end this Friday, November 20, with the re-opening of close-contact services and unlicensed hospitality businesses.
The hospitality sector is set to reopen the week after on Friday, November 27.
Prof Young’s comments follow concerns expressed by Health Minister Robin Swann on Sunday.
“I agree with Minister Swann that it’s more likely than not that further restrictions will be asked for before Christmas,” Prof Young told BBC Good Morning Ulster.
“There would be an option of measures which the executive would need to consider and I think everybody is familiar with what those restrictions look like.
“They have to minimise the interactions between people, particularly in indoor settings, in order to reduce transmission of the virus as much as possible.”
Last Thursday Stormont ministers reached a compromise, amid deep divisions, to extend the current restrictions.
The partial reopening of some sectors from Friday, proposed by Economy Minister Diane Dodds, was backed “reluctantly” by the health minister.
Robin Swann said he wanted the current regulations to continue for a further two weeks.
He said that the pressure which hospitals could be under this winter would “be one of the worst episodes our health service in Northern Ireland will face”.
The minister appealed for people to limit their contacts and exercise good hand and respiratory hygiene to limit the spread of the virus.
On the row at Stormont last week, Prof Young said he was “very glad” he was not a politician.
These are tough decisions for ministers, he added, and he was confident the executive would “seriously consider” any advice health officials put forward.
Tags: