TEN Derry GAA clubs have suspended activity "as a precautionary measure" following a cluster of Covid-19 cases in the local community.
Drumsurn, St Colm's Drum, Glack, Limavady, Foreglen, Claudy, Ardmore and Magilligan yesterday said they had temporarily halted all activity, following similar announcements by Banagher and Craigbane on Thursday evening.
None of the clubs have reported any positive coronavirus cases.
The move came after the Public Health Agency (PHA) identified a cluster of Covid-19 cases linked to a social gathering at a house in the Limavady area.
It is understood the cluster was discovered in the nearby village of Drumsurn.
Sixteen new cases of the virus were confirmed on Thursday – nine of them within the Causeway Coast and Glens council borough, which covers the area.
A testing unit has been set up at Limavady's North West Regional College.
It is believed a karaoke party – in which partygoers may have transmitted the virus by passing around a microphone – could have been the cause of the outbreak, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
The 10 GAA clubs said they hoped to update their members quickly, while Drum is suspending all activity until Monday.
Drumsurn said none of their players or members were currently experiencing symptoms consistent with coronavirus.
Banagher's statement said: "We are not aware of any players, managers or club officials that have the virus."
Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald said a local lockdown could not be ruled out in response to Covid-19 clusters.
The East Derry representative told the BBC that the Stormont executive "has been clear that if restrictions need to be reimposed" in an area then that would happen.
"It was anticipated that as we began to reopen the economy and society that we may see increased instances and clusters like this," she said.
"That's where the test, trace and isolate comes in and it's absolutely critical for us to be able to contain the virus that those procedures are in place."
The PHA's Dr Gerry Waldron said a local lockdown was "not needed" at this stage.
However, he said it was "significant" that positive cases had been identified not just among those at the gathering, but also people who attendees had later been in contact with.
"This is really highlighting the importance of people maintaining and keeping advice in terms of social distancing and in terms of their interactions," he said.
He added: "This doesn't apply here, because we have identified a very discrete event, but if we found a geographical area had a higher rate of Covid-19 and we weren't finding any specific reason why that might be happening, then a local lockdown is one of the issues that would be considered.
"We can look at what's happened in Leicester recently – it's basically rolling back into the restrictions that have recently been used – and we would roll back and recommend that restrictions that had been used would be reintroduced in the specific geographical area."
Yesterday there were 19 new confirmed cases of the virus in the north, bringing the total recorded on the Stormont health department's Covid-19 dashboard to 5,834.
The department recorded no further coronavirus-related deaths, meaning its total still stands at 556.
As well as the mobile testing unit in Limavady, there are also test sites at the City of Derry Rugby Club, SSE Arena in Belfast, Craigavon MOT Centre and St Angelo Airport in Enniskillen.
Tests can be booked by visiting the Public Health Agency's website.
