Football, gaelic games and rugby appear unlikely to resume anytime soon in Northern Ireland following the NI Executive's publication of its plan for easing the Covid-19 lockdown.

The plan says close physical contact sports should only resume in the fifth and final stage of the process.

Image source, Inpho

No timescales are given for any of the stages but stage five is likely to be several months away.

Read more here

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political reporter

The Northern Ireland Executive has published its five-stage plan for slowly easing the coronavirus lockdown.

Unlike the recovery plan in the Republic of Ireland, the blueprint for NI does not include projected dates.

Nothing will change immediately - with the current lockdown remaining in place until at least 28 May - although First Minister Arlene Foster said she hoped Northern Ireland would reach the final phase of its gradual return to a new normality by December.

Movement between each of the five stages would depend on progress in reducing the transmission of the virus, being guided primarily by medical and scientific evidence and the NHS's capacity to cope, she added.

Image source, Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Northern Ireland's Pathway to Recovery is broken down into sections covering family, work, exercise, education, travel and retail.

Here's a look at how the plans compare to both the measures announced by the prime minister, external on Monday - which only apply in England - and the Republic of Ireland's roadmap.

Read here.

Image source, Getty Images/Orbon Alija

The R number was mentioned a fair few times during Tuesday's Stormont briefing but what exactly is it?

The R number or reproduction number is a measure of a disease's ability to spread.

R refers to the average number of people that someone with Covid-19 is expected to infect after contracting the virus.

The goal is to keep R under one.

First Minister Arlene Foster says Stormont's policy on lifting the lockdown will "at all times" be guided by the R number, which currently stands at 0.79 in Northern Ireland.

Read more about the R number here.

Michelle O'Neill says the five-stage plan for easing the Covid-19 lockdown in Northern Ireland is "in the best interests of people here".

The deputy first minister was asked at a Stormont briefing about the differences in Northern Ireland's approach to lifting lockdown and the Republic of Ireland's.

"This is our plan - this is the executive's plan - and what we've done is based on our own modelling and scientific advice," said Ms O'Neill.

"Clearly we need to work together across this island and we need to move together on issues when we can.

"It is important for everyone to know that this disease does not know any borders so it is important that we respond to it in that way.

"Where we can be joined up, we will continue to do that."

Arlene Foster again defends the lack of dates for when Northern Ireland's pathway to recovery will begin.

She says timeframes outlined by other countries are often so "heavily caveated that one has to ask, is it of any use?"

"When they get to that date they may not be able to move forward and then people will be disappointed," the first minister said.

"We took the decision that we wanted to be flexible and if we could move in a faster way then we would do that," Mrs Foster continued.

"I hope that people can understand when they look at the steps that if we comply, if we push the R number down, then we will be moving in that direction."

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has refuted claims Northern Ireland's infection rate is higher than other parts of the UK because of its significant number of care home cases.

Speaking at a briefing at Stormont, she said "the advice we have got is that that isn't the case and it is not something that is impacting our R number".

The R-value - or reproduction number - is at the heart of the executive's decision to extend the lockdown until at least the end of May.

The R number shows how many people will get infected for every one person who gets ill.

In Northern Ireland, the R-rate is sitting just below one, at 0.79, and the executive has said it must remain at a low level before restrictions can be lifted.

"Our R number is where it is because when you compare us to somewhere like England, we entered into this slightly later so we're working at about a week to 10 days behind England in terms of the disease trajectory," said Ms O'Neill.

"We're all hoping for the day that we can bring that R number down significantly and we want to get there as quickly as possible.

"The best way we can get there is by following the public health advice."

First Minister Arlene Foster says the R number in Northern Ireland, the rate at which an infected person spreads the virus to others, is 0.79.

She told a briefing at Stormont that the executive wants to retain flexibility on the dates of each step contained in the five-stage plan to ease the lockdown.

"If we could with certainty set dates we would have set the dates, but I think what we wanted to do to make sure that we set out the step-by-step process and then keep the flexibility to be able to move when that R number is at an appropriate place," she said.

"At all times we will be guided by what's happening to the R number.

"We like to think that it is going in the right direction and if it does go in the right direction, we will respond to it."

The deputy first minister says "staying at home is still our primary message".

Speaking at the Stormont daily briefing, Michelle O'Neill said any decisions to lift lockdown would be "guided all the way by scientific evidence".

It comes as a five-stage plan for easing the Covid-19 lockdown in Northern Ireland is published by the executive.

"We will not keep any measure in place for any longer than is necessary," she said.

Mrs O'Neill says easing lockdown restrictions is a "partnership" and by working together, we can reach the final stage.

First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill have begun the daily Stormont briefing, today at an earlier time following the publication of the lockdown roadmap earlier.

You can watch live by hitting the play button at the top of the page.

A further nine deaths related to Covid-19 have been reported by the Department of Health, taking their total, mostly comprising of hospital deaths, to 447.

One of the deaths happened since Monday. The further 8 deaths occurred earlier but have now been added to the Department of Health figures.

These figures are one of two sets published in Northern Ireland - each Friday statistics agency Nisra publishes their weekly update.

Their statistics cover all fatalities where coronavirus has been recorded on the death certificate.

As of 1 May, Nisra had recorded 516 Covid-19 related deaths here.

Fear not if you have a long-overdue library book, step two of the executive's plan will allow for selected libraries to reopen, with restricted services.

All library facilities can reopen in step three.

Image source, Getty Images

The document also says "open air museums" will be allowed to reopen in step two.

It is by step three that "museums and galleries open".

South Belfast MP Claire Hanna says while she welcomes the executive's plan for lifting restrictions, she is concerned by the lack of dates.

"I think people and businesses have really bought into the concept of social distancing and I think everyone understands the flexibility required, so if there was a need to push some of the dates back I think people would get it," the SDLP member said

"I fear that not having the dates in is a little bit of an allergy to accountability that the executive has.

"But there is still a lot to welcome in it and I'm glad that it acknowledges there isn't a perfect plan out of this and it isn't a battle between good and evil, because again the narrative before has been that anybody thinking about the economy or business was kind of disregarding human life."

The executive document refers to how church services can restart, with step one of the recovery plan saying "drive-through church services" will be allowed and churches can also open "for private prayer".

Image source, Getty Images

In step four, a wider range of gatherings will be allowed inside church buildings.

Both steps specify the cleaning of shared contact hard surfaces and social-distancing measures remaining in place.

The executive will base much of what it does in terms of easing restrictions around the R number, which measures the spread of the disease in the community.

Sinn Fein's Colm Gildernew says currently the R number is believed to be just under 0.8.

"I think it's widely recognised that you'd want to see it around 0.5," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback show.

Image source, Getty Images

"Anything above one, the disease is spreading within the community and it was at one point in time as high as three.

"It's vital that number is under control before you start to deal with any of those other issues."

He said the R number includes the spread of the disease in care homes and it was not being calculated separately.

One of the toughest aspects of the lockdown for many people has been the distancing from family and friends.

Currently, the executive's position is that "contact should be within own household", however, this will be eased at the first stage.

"Visits to immediate family allowed indoors where social distancing is possible," the document says, "with the exception of people who are shielding".

Also permissible are outdoor meetings of four-six people who do not live together.

Image source, Getty Images

At stage two, this expands to groups of 10 people, then 30 people by stage three.

Step five will allow "extended groups" to meet "subject to social distancing or other suitable mitigations".

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

I think it's going to be quite frustrating for businesses and that's some of the reaction that we're seeing so far

For example Simon Hamilton, who was a former finance minister and now leads the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, says it is disappointing that there's not even those indicative timings which would allow businesses to start planning properly for this reopening.

Image source, pa media

The executive looked at dates for when to lift restrictions but decided against it because they didn't want to build up expectations.

The deputy first minister has said the next review is due on May 28, but if the R rate comes down there is the flexibility to move to step one ahead of that date.

In recent weeks, one of the few permissible reasons to leave home has been for one session of daily exercise.

At each of the executive's five steps, this restriction eases, beginning with the opening of public sport amenities and outdoor spaces.

"Walking, running, cycling, some water activities, golf, tennis" are among the activities specified in the document.

Step two involves the resumption of team sports training in small groups, on a non-contact basis, expanding to larger groups in step three.

Image source, Getty Images

Competitive sport can resume in step four, but either behind closed doors or with limited numbers of spectators.

This lifts in step five with the "resumption of close physical contact sports" and a "return to competitive sport and full use of sporting facilities".

So far, we've heard from some business organisations who have criticised the lack of dates in Stormont's road map out of lockdown - for instance, Aodhan Connolly, the head of the NI Retail Consortium, has told Talkback that retailers need clarity on how much time they have to get ready.

"Some of them will be ready to open very, very soon, we just need to have that clarity from the executive," he says.

"We do need to get that at least stage one timing as soon as possible."

However, the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) in NI says that putting people’s health first and taking a flexible approach to the easing of lockdown measures is the only way to restart the Northern Ireland economy.

“Getting Northern Ireland back to work in a way that prioritises safety will minimise the impact on livelihoods from this pandemic," the CBI's Angela McGowan says.

"It must be done gradually, based on science, to retain public confidence. Moving too far, too fast could set back the economic restart.

“Only by employers, employees and unions working together with the executive will we begin to build back better, setting out a vision for the future of our economy based on fairness and sustainability."

Mark Devenport
BBC News NI Political Editor

People will be poring over the two graphics at the end of the document just published by the Northern Ireland Executive, which set out the steps, one through to five, on how to ease lockdown rules.

They cover a series of different sectors such as work; retail; education; travel; sport; family and the community.

They set out things you will be able to do and things you won't be able to do, but obviously the big question people will be asking is: "When do any of these steps apply?"

I think there will be frustration for people out there and for businesses because the first and deputy first ministers' response to that question is that they will move through the steps when the scientific and medical evidence allows.

So they're simply not setting any date.

We know the current rules are due to be reviewed at the end of this month but there's no commitment to move on to step one in this document then and there's no commitment to be moving on every three weeks.

Now, Stormont's leaders say that's simply the scientific facts of life - that other countries have moved ahead and then have had to shift back again.

So the first and deputy first ministers say they're not going to commit to any particular step until they've tested the evidence.

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, there's big news from Westminster where the chancellor has confirmed that the UK government scheme to pay wages of workers on leave because of coronavirus has been extended to October.

The furlough scheme allows employers to temporarily lay off staff while the government pays 80% of their wages during the crisis.

Its aim is to prevent mass unemployment.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak says some 7.5 million workers are now covered by the scheme, up from 6.3 million last week.

He also tweeted about the plans.