The Executive has agreed much tougher Covid-19 restrictions that will come into place on November 27th.
All hospitality, close contact services, and non-essential retail and churches will have to close. Leisure and entertainment facilities will also close.
Government advice will be to stay at home and there will also be a strict work from home message.
Schools and child care centres can remain open and universities will conduct distanced learning, except where it has to be face to face.
Close-contact services and cafes can still open this Friday as planned but will have to close again next Friday, while other hospitality sectors like pubs and licensed restaurants will remain closed throughout.
Takeaway hospitality services will be allowed.
The Stormont Executive also decided sporting events will only be allowed for elite athletes, with no spectators.
Rules around household gatherings will be unchanged.
Ministers had been told two weeks of further coronavirus restrictions were needed before Christmas in order to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
The Health minister, Robin Swann, warned colleagues if no new measures are introduced by the end of November even a full lockdown in mid-December would not be enough to prevent the health service being swamped by Covid-19 cases.
Proposals in a paper circulated by Mr Swann said restrictions beginning on November 27 appeared to be the most effective option in reducing virus transmission.
Top health officials said it is highly likely any relaxations over the next two weeks will result in the virus' reproductive rate rising well above one, with a subsequent increase in hospital intensive care admissions in December.
Mr Swann's department believes a two-week period of restriction starting on November 27 will offer the best prospect of avoiding the need for further intervention before January.
Mr Swann also asked fellow ministers to consider local travel restrictions which were legally enforceable.
So far they have only advised against "unnecessary travel".
Speaking after the announcement Colin Neill, Chief Executive of Hospitality Ulster, said: "A reopening date is now irrelevant, it’s now about a rescue package.
“65,000 people in the hospitality industry are now looking to the Executive tonight to save their jobs and livelihoods.
This is no longer about a date, this is now about a multi-million pound emergency rescue package. The sector now faces disaster.
“All trust in the Executive by the hospitality sector has been wiped away. We were told that Christmas trading would be saved, that is now gone. There is a huge amount of anger right across the hospitality industry.
"We have been left with left with no trade, no hope and a huge amount of redundancies on our hands.”
Reacting to the announcement Aodhán Connolly, director of Northern Ireland Retail Consortium said it is a huge blow to retailers, adding: "The closure of non-essential retail during what is our golden quarter is a huge blow to retailers already feeling the squeeze of decreased footfall and increased costs.
"The retail industry has invested well over £10 million in Northern Ireland to make stores safe and SAGE’s advice is that the impact on covid transmission of closing ‘non-essential’ retail is low."
He however acknowledged the decision had been made been in order to restrict activity and movement by members of the public adding: "We recognise retail has a part to play in that and we accept that ‘non-essential’ retail has to close for a short period.”
It comes as the Department of Health revealed another 487 people have tested positive for Covid-19.
Another 12 deaths were reported.
A total of 3,401 cases have been diagnosed over the last seven days.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiSWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lml0di5jb20vbmV3cy91dHYvMjAyMC0xMS0xOS9zdG9ybW9udC1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1yZXN0cmljdGlvbnPSAQA?oc=5
2020-11-19 21:24:00Z
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