THE extension of lockdown until April 1 will come as a blow to many, as will the strong suggestion from health minister Robin Swann that restrictions will not be eased for the Easter break.
Nonetheless, the executive's decision to maintain the current measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 appears on balance to be the right one.
Case numbers are continuing to fall, but are still too high. And although deaths linked to the virus are falling they also remain, tragically, too high.
It seems clear that the executive and its medical and scientific advisers want this downward trajectory to continue and become consolidated before any major relaxation of restrictions is considered.
Hospital pressures are also a factor, as is a desire to keep the virus suppressed while the vaccination programme progresses.
The executive says it is going to review the restrictions on March 18. That, along with the April 1 date and Easter, seems a dispiritingly long way off.
As finance minister Conor Murphy put it on Thursday, people should not "be booking anything" for Easter. This will be "a slow re-entry into normal life", he said.
There is no doubt that this lockdown, which started at Christmas, has been the hardest yet. People are weary, and a sense of isolation and distance from family and friends has been exacerbated by the unavoidable gloom of winter.
The vaccine programme has so far been an undoubted success and, aside from the vital physical protection it offers, has also lifted people's spirits.
It was always understood that any substantial return to 'normal' could not be considered until a significant proportion of the population had been vaccinated.
But the executive must articulate more clearly how, and by what measures, the restrictions will be eased.
It is due to publish its plan on March 1. Mr Swann says this will be led by 'data not dates' but it is important that this is effectively communicated and consistently applied.
It is welcome that some children will be able to return to school next month. P1 to P3 classes will resume on March 8 for two weeks, after which they will return to remote learning. Pupils in years 12 to 14 will return for a week from March 22.
This tentative approach emphasises the executive's nervousness about this stage of the pandemic.
Clearly, there is still a long way to go in the fight against Covid.
