The spread of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland is getting more grave by the hour and further restrictions will likely be imposed soon, the British-run region's health minister said on Friday after another daily record number of cases.
FILE PHOTO: A man walks down a street in central Belfast, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease , Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 4, 2020. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff
A rapid surge in infections over the past two weeks in the smallest of the United Kingdom’s four nations means the rate of cases per 100,000 people since the start of the pandemic has now outstripped that of England, Scotland or Wales. “The situation is grave and getting more so, on a daily if not hourly basis,” Robin Swann said in a written statement to the regional parliament. The number of COVID-19 hospital inpatients would exceed numbers seen in first wave of the pandemic in two to three weeks if current trends continue unabated, he said.
Northern Ireland’s devolved government imposed tighter restrictions on household mixing last month and this week banned indoor dining, drinking and unnecessary travel to and from the hardest-hit area of Derry and Strabane.
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