Restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings have been tightened, the health minister has confirmed.
The Executive has agreed that the numbers who can gather outdoors will be reduced from 30 to 15 while people meeting indoors in a private dwelling must now be limited to six and be drawn from no more than two households, Health Minister Robin Swann said. The restrictions will come into force next week.
The seven day rolling average for new cases of Covid-19 has increased and Mr Swann said the R number was arouund 1.3 "and definitely above one". Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said the rolling average was over 40 which was a tenfold increase since the start of July.
Mr Swann said there would be focused police enforcement in infection hotspot areas and that the Executive would not lift any further restrictions.
He said 35 people working at a meat processing plant in Mid and East Antrim council area had tested positive for coronavirus and "so significant and so extensive" was the cluster "that all workers in the factory and all recent visitors should now be required to self isolate".
A further, smaller number of "contacts" had also tested positive, he added. Cranswick Country Foods in Cullybackey, outside Ballymena, processes pigs. Read more
Mr Swann said all employees would be tested and the plant undergo "a full deep clean". He added that he expected the number of cases linked to the outbreak to rise.
The cluster "is by no means unique", he added, pointing to similar outbreaks in meat plants in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
The minister said "there was no excuse for complacency" and that Northern Ireland could avoid a return to lockdown if everyone played their part and adhered to the guidelines.
He said while "there is not equal spread of virus acorss Northern Ireland" he was "becoming increasingly concerned with the increase in commnity transimission".
The virus is as potent and as deadly as it was in February, he added.
Previously up to 30 people could meet outdoors while 10 people from four households could meet indoors.
The Executive has confirmed that certain outdoor events can have more than 15 people attending as long as a risk assessment is carried out and necessary measures put in place.
"This will include weddings, church services and sporting events where a close adherence to social distancing and hygiene regimes continues to apply."
The executive also agreed some upper limits on gatherings and events that can be introduced quickly depending on the transmission of the disease.
Dr Michael McBride said he had been impressed by the measures put in place by the hospitality sector to protect staff and customers.
'Armchair experts'
Mr Swann said "hospital admissions will inevtiably and sadly rise if cases continue to do so" and was critical of "armchair experts" and those who had become "increasingly flippant in regards to the impact of this virus" who he said undermined the advice from experts in public health.
"For those who believe they are immune and also know better; the virus has minor or no effect on some people, what about the others who are being placed at risk just because some believe they are too busy to self isolate or have become overnight experts on the virus and foolishly believe it does not pose a risk to them or their family.
"This virus can and has took lives. It can destroy lives and thankfully the vast majority of the people of Northern Ireland still recognise that. But to those armchair experts who think they know more than the actual experts the only thing I would say to them is think of the effect your messaging and your opinion has on undermining the health service and those who have sacrificied so much already."
He was speaking after his department confirmed that 51 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. The total number of confirmed positive cases in the north now stands at 6,556. Read more
Schools reopening
Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride advised parents not to send their child to school if they display any symptoms of coronavirus.
"If your child has symptoms, a cough or a sneeze, keep them at home... get them tested," he said.
He added: "Unlike flu children are not the reservoir of infection and do not seem to contibute to the spread of Covid-19."
Dr McBride said there was capacity to perform up to 9,000 tests daiiy.
He described the reopening of schools as "a priority".
'This is not over but we will get through it'
The chief medical officer said there was a significant increase in the number of cases among younger people and said that partly explained why a similar increase in hospitalisations had not yet occured.
"We are seeing increased social mixing, close contact occurring in domestic settings," he said.
"What we now need to do is act on that evidence and act on it in a proportionate way."
Dr McBride said some of the evidence about people's behaviour was anecdotal.
The pandemic was not over, he said, "but it will be some day and we can get through it".
Preparations for second spike
Asked about the Nightingale Hospital which is no longer being used, Health Minister Robin Swann said "that facility is there if we need to switch it back on".
In terms of the numbers of ventilators available for ICUs, Mr Swann said "we continue to purcahse what we had on order" and said the continuing supply of PPE had moved from a four to 12-week supply.
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