The political reaction to the executive's lockdown road map has been a mixed bag.

For SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, it's publication is welcome but its lack of a detailed timeline with dates is "a missed opportunity".

“I believe that a timeline would have provided greater certainty and I know that people would have been sympathetic to any deviation from that timeline if circumstances change,” the Foyle MP says.

However, Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong says it's a "comprehensive plan" and that she welcomes "that the executive has opted not to put the dates against each stage, allowing themselves, instead, to be guided by science".

Image source, Getty Images/BBC

Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken says the document “sets a direction of travel.”

But he also called for “as much detail published as possible so that the public and business community understand what will be happening at each stage of transition to what will be the ‘new normal".

He says all decision taking must be “health-led".

Green Party MLA Rachel Woods says she accepts that the executive "is guided by scientific evidence on when things should change rather than fixed points in time".

She adds that "guidance issued to businesses" on social distancing at work "must be followed".

The executive's road map is "a missed opportunity as it doesn't give sufficient clarity to workers about the future," the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has said.

ICTU assistant general secretary Owen Reidy also said testing remained too low in NI.

“As of 10 May only 33,440 people have been tested. That’s less than half of the number of healthcare workers working today in NI.

"Unless we get expansive mass community testing with adequate tracing and appropriate isolation we will not adequately address this pandemic."

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Reidy added: "Having dates with specific targets which place obligations on society and also the government is both necessary and the only viable approach to work through this pandemic together.

“For us, this document is incomplete and requires more work. We think it is critical that all sectors of society have their say and that the NI Executive listens and responds.

Ireland's chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan says there will be a role for non-medical grade face coverings in the community.

He says there are practical steps people can take to make coverings for themselves, but cited the importance of continued hand hygiene and physical distancing while using face coverings.

Image source, Getty Images

He adds that "perhaps" the use of coverings may be recommended in situations like retail stores or on public transport.

It follows a similar recommendation by Stormont's First and Deputy First Ministers Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill last week.

They said face coverings could be worn in enclosed spaces, if social distancing was not possible.

You can read a guide to make your own face mask here.

An outbreak of coronavirus has emerged among staff in a Northern Ireland hospital.

Since 1 April, 24 health workers have tested positive for the virus in two wards of Antrim Area Hospital in County Antrim.

Twelve of those cases have occurred in the last 12 days - since 1 May.

Image source, Getty Images

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust confirmed the outbreak to BBC NI's Spotlight programme.

In a statement, the Trust said all the cases were among people working on two wards, C6 and C7, of the hospital.

It is understood that other members of staff are also self-isolating with symptoms.

Read the rest.

Ireland's Department of Health says 24 more people who were diagnosed with Covid-19 have died.

The total number of deaths there linked to the virus is 1,488 after three deaths were de-notified since yesterday.

There have also been 107 further cases confirmed, meaning there are now 23,242 cases in the Republic.

Ireland's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, says that as of this morning there were 71 people in intensive care units receiving treatment for Covid-19.

Image source, RTE

Dr Holohan says there have been five reported clusters in prisons in Ireland, while there have been three clusters involving members of the Roma community and five clusters concerning members of the Traveller community.

He says there are 12 clusters, accounting for 149, involving people in direct provision centres which provide accommodation for asylum seekers.

There are also 12 clusters related to meat processing plants.

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

The chancellor has announced that the job retention - or furlough - scheme, which had been due to expire at the end of June has been extended until the end of October.

The big innovation that we're going to get is that after August, some people will be allowed to come back to work part-time, their employers will pay some of their wages and then the government will pay the rest of their wages to make it up to 80%.

Image source, Getty Images

That is clearly going to be more complicated than the current scheme that we're working with

More details of how that is going to work for companies and their employees will be made available at the end of this month.

You can read more about the furlough scheme extension here.

Image source, PA Media

Road maps, furlough schemes and more - it's been a busy day. Here's a round-up of what you need to know so far:

• A five-step plan for coming out of Covid-19 lockdown is published by the NI Executive but, unlike plans announced in England, external and the Republic of Ireland, NI's blueprint does not include a fixed timetable of dates
• First Minister Arlene Foster says she hoped to reach the final stage by December but progression will depend on key health criteria being met
• The UK furlough scheme to pay wages of workers on leave because of coronavirus will be extended to OctoberThere have been nine more coronavirus-related deaths in NI, according to figures from the Department of Health, with department's death toll now standing at 447
• The official UK death toll rises by 627 to 32,692 but excess deaths - which include those indirectly caused by virus - top 50,000
• In the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Health announced a further 15 deaths, bringing the overall death toll there to 1,467

Two of Northern Ireland's industry bodies, representing shops and logistics businesses, have expressed concerns about the lack of a timeframe in the executive's five-step Covid-19 recovery plan.

Aodhán Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, tells Evening Extra that businesses "need time to get ready".

"Some stores can take five or six days," he said.

"Other stores such as fast food can need three or four weeks to make sure that the people who supply them with the fresh food, with the different consumable products, are ready to go and that's where the planning in this sort of phased return needs to happen.

"It's not just about opening doors in shops, it's everything that has to happen before that and that's why we're going to need some sort of a timeframe."

Image source, Getty Images

Seamus Leheny, from the Freight Transport Association, says approximate dates contained in plans unveiled for England and the Republic of Ireland "give a definitive objection for businesses to plan", especially those that "have to scale-up".

The executive will have "some massive calls to make in the weeks ahead", he adds.

Mr Leheny also told Evening Extra that he welcomed the government's extension of the furlough scheme to help cover workers' salaries.

The official coronavirus death toll in the UK has risen to 32,692 - up 627 on yesterday's figure.

Due to a lag in reporting deaths around every weekend, Tuesday has seen the highest number of deaths reported in each of the last three weeks. Today's death toll is a decrease from 693 last Tuesday.

As of 09:00 on Tuesday there have been 2,007,146 tests, with 85,293 tests on 11 May - below the 100,000 target set for the end of April.

Of those daily tests, 3,403 were positive.

Image source, HM Government

Public buildings and landmarks across Northern Ireland will light up this evening to mark International Nurses Day.

The celebration has taken on a new significance this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Landmarks taking part in the tribute include Enniskillen Castle in County Fermanagh and Belfast City Hall.

Mark Devenport
BBC News NI Political Editor

Senior Sinn Féin and Ulster Unionist politicians have said councils should retain as many members of their workforce as possible.

It is in response to proposed lay- offs as a result of lost revenue caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

Image source, Getty Images

There are 46 staff at Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council waiting to hear about the future of their jobs.

Along with 20 agency workers, the council had laid off the workers but is now reviewing the decision.

Read more here.

Continuing on Evening Extra, the deputy first minister says Stormont could look again at how schools provide childcare for the children of keyworkers if the current system is not working for everyone.

Michelle O’Neill says key workers are “people we are depending on so much right now, we need to be able to give back to them".

Image source, Getty Images

“If there are people whose experience is that they have not been able to get that assistance we would want people to raise that with us, to come forward, we would want to try and fix that,” she says.

Some parents say they have not been to access childcare from schools.

“If there is improvement that needs to be made there then that’s what we should be looking at,” the deputy first minister says.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has also been speaking on Evening Extra - she says that coronavirus testing here has improved but "there's still a way to go".

The capacity to test, trace and isolate the virus, she adds, is "the cornerstone of the recovery".

Image source, Getty Images

She says testing capacity – currently at 2,000 tests per day and set to increase by 1,500 in the coming days – is “not where we need to be yet".

“You can see there is an improved picture here but there is still a way to go to get us to that maximum point of testing,” she says.

Meanwhile, the all-important R number is going in the right direction, says Arlene Foster.

The first ministers says the number is at 0.79 in Northern Ireland.

The number indicates the average number of people infected by one person with coronavirus.

Image source, Getty Images

"We said last week when we reviewed the regulations that it was in the range of between 0.8 and 0.9," she said.

"Clearly it's going in the right direction and we're signposting that it's going in the right direction.

"So people should take heart from that and if they keep complying with the regulations as they are at present then we will be able to push that R number down and then move to step one, which is of course where everybody wants to be."

It's been one of the major talking points of today - why doesn't the Stormont lockdown road map have dates? First Minister Arlene Foster tells Evening Extra that dates cannot be set because scientific data varies "from day-to-day and it's not possible to be precise".

"I know that other jurisdictions have announced dates in their plans but you have to understand those are heavily conditional and steps will only be taken if supported by science and conditions in those jurisdictions as well," she says.

"From day to day we will be looking at this all important R number, we will be looking at the transmission of the virus and we will not be keeping these regulations one day more than we have to because we understand the impact that these regulations have on families, on society in general, on friendships and indeed on our economy.

"So will want to move as quickly as we can."

A bit more on the number that's on everyone's mind - the R number, aka the average number of people who will be infected with coronavirus from one infected case.

The R number - currently set at 0.79 in Northern Ireland - is a major factor in the five-step lockdown plan as outlined by the Northern Ireland Executive earlier.

The Department of Health has issued a statement clarifying how it calculates the R number, saying it's derived "principally on ICU occupancy and hospital admissions, which currently give similar R values" but that care home cases have "essentially no impact on the R value which we provide".

"While there may be a small number of nursing home cases who are admitted to hospital, very few are admitted to ICU based on appropriate clinical decision making," they added.

Image source, Getty Images

"While there may be a small number of nursing home cases who are admitted to hospital, very few are admitted to ICU based on appropriate clinical decision making," they added.

They said the estimate of "0.8-0.9 is entirely attributable to community transmission or cases acquired within hospital settings (nosocomial transmission)."

The department added that it is possible to determine a separate R for the nursing home sector.

"This has a considerable uncertainty but would be above 1 at present," they said.

Mark Devenport
BBC News NI Political Editor

The Stormont Executive’s five step document isn’t so much a road map towards recovery – more an explanation of how ministers intend to make their decisions as they navigate their way forward.

The mantra is that the scientific criteria will be far more important than any arbitrary dates on a calendar.

However this will no doubt cause frustration to businesses and other groups in the community who have called for a timetable on which to base their own plans.

Image source, pacemaker

The current Coronavirus restrictions are due to be reviewed by the end of May. However ministers aren’t investing that date with any significance.

They say we could move to Step 1 (the first easing of the current lockdown) before then, or perhaps not until sometime after then.

Read more here.

The Department of Health is celebrating the "tireless work" of nurses in Northern Ireland on International Nurses Day.

In a video posted to Twitter, nurses from across the health sector gave an insight into the work they carry out on the frontline.

Health Minister Robin Swann said nurses provided "a significant contribution far beyond this pandemic" and Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride said he was "inspired" by those in the nursing profession on a daily basis. .

A charity set up by Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody is donating £50k to Help Musicians NI as "there has been no government relief funding for struggling musicians in Northern Ireland like there has been in the rest of the UK".

The Bangor-born singer says local artists need "protecting if we want to have a music scene on the other side of all this".

"At times like these health is of course the priority which is why recent and future donations from us have been for health and mental health based charities however surely the preservation of our culture is extremely important too," he adds.

Many major events and festivals in Northern Ireland's annual calendar have been cancelled for 2020, with restrictions on large gatherings remaining in place for some time.

The executive's plan begins with drive-through cinemas being allowed in step one, before concert and theatre rehearsals are allowed in step three.

Image source, Getty Images

Step four then allows for outdoor concerts on a "restricted basis".

It is also on a restricted basis that spectators can attend live events by step five.

It is in this final stage when nightclubs and all concerts can resume "on a limited basis".