Lockdown and shielding restrictions are continuing to ease as the Covid-19 reproduction number (R number) remains below one, while no further deaths in Northern Ireland have been reported.
Moves to announce dates for the reopening of hair salons, nail bars, and other grooming businesses came as the R number was published as 0.6 – 0.9. As the R number remains below one, the Stormont Executive announced that churches can reopen on June 29, with hair salons and the like free to trade from July 6.
It was confirmed by the Department of Health that no deaths from coronavirus occurred in the previous 24 hours, meaning the NI death toll figure remains at 543. There was just one new case of the disease reported, bringing the total number of confirmed cases here to 4,863.
In the Republic, the Department of Health announced that four more people have died as a result of Covid-19, taking the total deaths south of the border to 1,714. A further 16 cases of transmission have been confirmed, taking the total confirmed figure for the south to 25,255.
At a Oireachtas special committee on Covid-19, the secretary general of the Department of Health, Jim Breslin, was forced to defend the Department of Health's response to Covid-19 in care homes, after it emerged that almost one-in-five nursing home residents in the south have been diagnosed with the virus.
Describing the care home deaths as the "most difficult aspect of our national experience", Mr Breslin praised the work of care home staff as coronavirus swept across the country.
Meanwhile, in the north, health minister Robin Swann has announced plans to pause the shielding advice that was issued to vulnerable people ahead of the coronavirus peak.
From July 31, subject to the rate of community transmission continuing to be low, people will no longer need to shield and should instead follow the same guidance and precautions - such as social distancing - as those considered to be generally vulnerable.
Letters will be issued in the coming days to all those covered by shielding informing them of the planned change.
"I have been clear that shielding would not last one minute longer than it needed to," the minister said.
"We have now reached the point where, if the current trends continue, there will be no need for anyone to shield after 31 July. I have listened to many of you and to the challenges you have faced during this period. I am in no doubt as to the difficulties shielding has presented for a great many people.
“It is unrealistic to think these difficulties will just vanish because the need to shield has ended. That is why the letters we issue will provide details of the support which will continue to be available up to and after 31 July."
In London, the UK Government revealed that a further 135 people have died of coronavirus, taking the UK-wide death toll to 42,288. The current number of confirmed UK Covid-19 cases is 300,469.
The government has also scrapped plans for a centralised Covid-19 tracing app, which had raised concerns over privacy issues, and is replacing it with a model based on Google and Apple tech.
