Covid-19: NI public urged to keep wearing masks

Anyone travelling on public transport should continue to wear a mask even if they are no longer required legally, Stormont Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has said.

Masks will no longer be required in England from 19 July under a plan to end Covid-19 restrictions.

Stormont ministers will decide the next steps for Northern Ireland on Thursday.

Ms Mallon said she had not seen any evidence to support ending the mandatory use of masks.

"The data tells us it acts as a mitigation against the virus but it also gives passengers confidence to come back onto our public transport network," she told BBC News NI.

"To date I haven't seen any evidence that would warrant the immediate removal of face coverings from public transport and bars and restaurants."

On Tuesday Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill described Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to end Covid-19 restrictions in England as "reckless" and said Northern Ireland would not be following it.

The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he hopes Northern Ireland can "move eventually" to ending the mandatory use of face coverings and making more relaxations in the weeks ahead.

Ms Mallon said she did not believe it was "wise to blindly follow" another government.

"Always with Boris Johnson you need to look beyond the rhetoric - the prime minister has given a date but has strongly caveated that it will be dependent on the data," she said.

"I want to reassure people that whatever our differences at the executive table we will look at NI-specific data to ensure we're taking the right decisions."

During Thursday's meeting ministers will discuss whether to put in place indicative dates for theatres to reopen and will consider lifting the limit on the number of people allowed to meet inside a home.

A mobile vaccine clinic has opened in the Whitla Hall at Queen's University Belfast as part of a continued push to give a Covid-19 vaccine to everyone aged 18 and over.

The clinic in south Belfast will be open from 10:00 BST to 18:00 every day until Saturday for any adult who has not yet received a first dose of any vaccine.

It is offering doses of the Pfizer jab.

A total of 2,079,758 vaccines have been administered in Northern Ireland.

The opening of the vaccine clinic comes after chief scientific adviser Prof Ian Young said it would make a big difference if 10% more of the population were vaccinated in the coming months.

Prof Young said on Tuesday that case numbers were increasing rapidly in Northern Ireland, mostly in the under 40s.

He reiterated that about 400 people with Covid-19 could be in hospital at any one time by the end of the summer.

But he said that if the number of vaccinated individuals increased from the current levels of 80% to 90% by the end of the summer, inpatient numbers could be reduced by half.

Mobile vaccination clinics have been set up at other locations across Northern Ireland in recent weeks in addition to the permanent sites.

Anyone who wants to use the Whitla Hall centre should attend with photographic ID and proof of residency in Northern Ireland.