Executive agrees new Covid restrictions for Derry City and Strabane area

Dear reader,

The Stormont Executive has agreed a series of new coronavirus restrictions for the Derry City and Strabane Council area.

It is understood measures include limiting hospitality outlets to outdoor dining, takeaways and deliveries. Further restrictions are to be placed on outdoor gatherings and people in the area will be urged to work from home where possible.

Two more people with Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland. Both deaths happened in the Belfast area and were men over the age of 60. One of the victims was over 80 while the other was aged between 60 and 79.

In addition, the Department of Health confirmed another 259 Covid-19 infections, bringing the total number of new coronavirus cases in the last seven days to 1,979.

Meanwhile new figures released on Thursday morning appear to show that Northern Ireland is doing better than other regions of the UK when it comes to Covid deaths.

The NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) said that “Covid-19 related” fatalities accounted for 10.9% of all deaths since the end of March until the end of August. This percentage is significantly lower than the 16.7% of deaths in England and Wales over the same period.

Stay safe.

Alistair Bushe

Editor

Want total access to all of our online content? You can subscribe to our website, newsletter.co.uk for just £1 a month for 3 months - and it couldn't be easier.

Signing up will get you faster-loading articles, fewer adverts and access to exclusive content and events when we run them. To learn more, visit our Subscriptions page here.