Executive agrees to increase Covid fines and extends list of places where face masks must be worn

Dear reader,

The Covid-19 pandemic tends to deliver a stream of difficult news, but there is the odd story that lifts the spirits during these very trying times.

Earlier this year Belfast mum Danielle Green, who was nine weeks' pregnant, was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Danielle's condition deteriorated and she tested positive for Covid-19 on April 1. She was admitted to an intensive care unit where she spent 10 days in an induced coma and on a ventilator.

At that stage her husband Bryan, from the Shankill Road area, was told that it was unlikely that the baby Danielle was carrying would survive the ordeal.

However,it wasn’t long before Danielle successfully emerged from intensive care with the news that she was expecting twins, and “two little miracles” called Ava and Amelia were born earlier this week.

It’s a lovely story in an otherwise tough time. Another 923 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed on Thursday in Northern Ireland, with a woman in her eighties the latest person to die having had Covid-19.

Meanwhile Stephen Nolan, the BBC presenter, attracted both praise and stinging criticism after he challenged people at a Belfast filling station for not wearing face masks.

The blogger Jamie Bryson, and the boxer Paddy Barnes, were among those who criticised Mr Nolan, with footage of the petrol station incidents broadcast on the Nolan Live programme on BBC One.

Stay safe.

Alistair Bushe,

Editor

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