In an earlier post, we reported on the new wave of artwork that is emerging in communities across NI.

In keeping with that theme, BBC News NI's Johnny Caldwell took this photo of a new mural in Belfast's Clonduff estate this morning.

It depicts former World War Two veteran Capt Tom Moore.

He has raised more than £29m for NHS charities.

Image source, Getty Images

At a time when the risk is too great to allow families to visit dying loved ones, hospital chaplains are bringing comfort, companionship and prayer to Covid-19 patients.

The Reverend Rosie Morton, chaplain at Belfast's Mater Hospital, and Fr Robert Sloan, who works in hospitals across the city, have to don full personal protective equipment (PPE) to visit the sickest patients on Covid wards.

They both told the BBC they were aware of the personal risk they face, but feel a duty to continue to minister to the dying.

"I am a public servant as a chaplain," Ms Morton said. "I have a duty of care and I will willingly go to work every day to do that.

"Yes, in the back of my mind there is a risk," she added, but said she puts that aside because she views her job as an "enormous privilege, being able to be alongside people at difficult times".

Image source, Getty Images

Fr Sloan said he felt he was "doing my part" but pointed out he was only visiting Covid-19 patients for a short period of time, while hospital staff have to spend "all day in that atmosphere".

"It can be very warm in that PPE," he said, adding, "fair dues to the staff, they're dealing with that all day".

"Yes there is a concern that maybe you might catch it but I think you just have to trust in the equipment and the training that you've been given and so far, so good, thank God."

The priest added: "We're very conscious that families can't be there and it's a traumatic experience for them, but I think it brings comfort to know that their loved ones will not die alone."

If you missed the interview with Health Minister Robin Swann on BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme earlier, you can listen back here

Bridge is a card game that normally involves four people sitting around a table - a tricky thing to do during a pandemic where social distancing is the new norm.

But, like many other clubs and socieites, City of Derry Bridge Club is using technology to keep the game going.

“We had to come to the decision in March that we could no longer play,” member Cora Morrison says.

Image source, PA Media

She's delighted to be able to still engage in her hobby.

“Bridge is a very sociable game and keeps the brain active, I would miss it if I didn’t have it in my life.”

The move online, she says, is “great” even for a self-professed technophobe.

The club’s secretary Philip McAvoy says the game translates easily to online.

“Anyone with a smartphone, tablet or laptop we can get you online and set up with a partner and playing in a tournament quite quickly,” he says.

Michael McBride
BBC News NI

Throughout Northern Ireland's troubled past, street art has long been a means of political and cultural expression.

Republicans and loyalists painted murals on buildings and gable walls, as a way of marking out territory and memorialising those lost throughout the 30-year conflict.

Many of those murals remain today, a constant reminder of a darker past.

Image source, Pacemaker

Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new wave of artwork is emerging and it is one that appears to have universal appreciation.

In areas across Northern Ireland, street artists have turned their skills to paying homage to the frontline workers battling against Covid-19.

Read more here

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Health Minister Robin Swann has said steps will be taken to come out of lockdown when the "time is right" for Northern Ireland.

Mr Swann said that they could come at a different time to other parts of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

He said the executive was currently talking about what steps would be taken, rather than when they would be.

Mr Swann also said he was concerned that complacency regarding current coronavirus restrictions is setting in.

Read more here

Releasing more regular coronavirus care home death figures in Northern Ireland is being examined, the health minister has said.

"I want to see the maximum level of transparency that we can about Covid 19-related deaths," said Robin Swann.

"That includes deaths in care homes and other community settings."

The figure is currently released on a weekly basis.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, Mr Swann said he had spoken to the Northern Ireland Statistical and Research Agency, Nisra, which is responsible for giving the weekly figure, about making this available more regularly.

He was responding to Health Secretary Matt Hancock announcing yesterday that from today, care home death figures would be included in the daily briefing.

Northern Ireland is looking at expanding the criteria for payments made to families of frontline workers who die fighting the coronavirus, Health Minister Robin Swann has said.

On Monday, it was announced bereaved families of NHS and social care staff in England would be eligible for £60,000 payments.

However, the scheme received some criticism as it required the workers to be enrolled in the pension scheme - and could exclude those coming out of retirement, or students entering the health service early.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, Mr Swann said his department was looking at "a scheme which can recognise anyone who has stepped up and is working in the front line".

Mr Swann said Northern Ireland had not yet finalised the amount which would be paid, and he hoped the response to the coronavirus was "working to a point where it is not needed".

Image source, Getty Images

A Belfast-based virologist has been explaining his involvement in the painstaking search for a treatment to help patients who have contracted Covid-19.

Ultan Power, professor of molecular virology at Queen's University, Belfast, is part of a team who are trying to find an anti-viral drug which will kill the virus or at least stop it from infecting patients' cells.

The team is also investigating the body's inflammatory response to the virus, as Prof Power says evidence suggests it is this response which causes much of the illness associated with the virus.

"In order to accelerate the programme, we have selected over 1,000 Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs," Prof Power told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

He said this FDA approval was "important because that allows us to progress rapidly into clinical trials because the safety as already been determined for those drugs".

"Our goal then is to combine the screening for the anti-virals that will kill the virus with the anti-inflammatories that will hopefully dampen down or reverse the inflammation that happens," he said,

"Ultimately, what we will be doing with those 1,000 drugs is we'll be doing a whole series of combinations which will eventually end up in the region of 500,000 different combinations of drugs to see which of them, if any, work in preventing the virus from infecting and dampening down the inflammation."

There is a concern that complacency has set in with the fight against coronavirus, Health Minister Robin Swann has said.

"I want to make sure we are doing everything we possibly can," said Mr Swann, speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"There is a perception, when we see the traffic on the roads over the past couple of days, and we see that increase."

Mr Swann said that while fewer people are being admitted to hospital and intensive care because of Covid-19, this was not a reason to relax.

"That is because of the actions which were taken three weeks ago, two weeks ago," he said.

"The actions people took then are having a direct effect on the number of people we have in hospital at this minute in time because of Covid-19."

Yesterday Scotland confirmed it would be advising mask-wearing in some public settings, while Health Minister Robin Swann said the same was being examined for Northern Ireland.

In France masks are being made compulsory on public transport and in secondary schools when it starts easing its coronavirus lockdown on 11 May.

Image source, AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Schools will reopen gradually, starting with kindergartens and primary schools.

Pupils aged 11-15 will be expected to wear face masks.

It comes as hard-hit Spain also outlined its lockdown exit plan, aiming for what its prime minister called "a new normality" by the end of June.

Read more here.

Gareth Gordon
BBC News NI Political Correspondent

How do you explain concepts like "coronavirus" or "social distancing" to an audience who cannot hear you?

For the past few weeks that has been the job of sign language interpreters Amanda Coogan and Kristina Sinclair.

The pair sign in both British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language at Stormont's daily coronavirus briefings.

Image source, Pacemaker

Both have become as well known on our TV screens as politicians like Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill.

There are about 4,500 British Sign Language users and 1,500 Irish Sign Language users in Northern Ireland.

The evidence is that many members of Northern Ireland's deaf community are watching the news conferences many times over.

Read their story here.

Clodagh Rice
BBC News NI business correspondent

A group of businesses has claimed that the future of the entertainment and leisure industry is "at risk" because some businesses fail to qualify for government Covid-19 support.

Many well-known venues have been forced to close their doors due to lockdown.

Now a number of firms, including Eddie Irvine Sports, Movie House cinemas, Drumbo Park, We Are Vertigo and Odyssey Bowl, have launched an industry forum.

Image source, rawpixel

They have called on the government to extend support to their sector.

The group, called the Entertainment and Leisure Forum, has written to the economy and finance ministers to seek support for the sector, which it says employs 10,000 people and contributes £100m to the economy each year.

Read more here

Here’s a reminder of the latest statistics - a further 20 coronavirus-related hospital deaths were reported yesterday by the Public Health Agency (PHA), bringing the total number recorded to 329.

The chief medical officer here, Dr Michael McBride, yesterday said testing has begun in 13 GP practices in Belfast and will be rolled out to another 26 across Northern Ireland.

Figures released by the Department of Health on Tuesday showed that 23,376 individuals had been tested, an increase of 807 on the previous day.

The total number of deaths in UK hospitals is 21,678, after a further 586 were announced yesterday.

In the Republic of Ireland, a further 59 deaths were confirmed on Tuesday. It brings the total there to 1,159.

Hello and welcome to Wednesday’s live page covering the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in Northern Ireland and beyond.

Stay with us for updates on key developments throughout the day.

Image source, Getty