The Northern Trust is reporting a rise in attendances of people showing symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea entering its emergency departments.

In a tweet, the trust said that washing your hands for twenty seconds, as well as preventing the spread of Covid-19, can also assist in reducing vomiting and diarrhoea.

A Covid-19 survivor who was hospitalised with the virus says we have "a duty to wear a mask".

Speaking on The Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster, caller Helen said she "fully supports" the wearing of face coverings in Northern Ireland.

"I'm frightened when I go out, when I go shopping, I'm anxious," she said.

"I see people bending over you pulling on top of you, people in shops blocking aisles, staff blocking aisles, I'm wearing a mask and yet I'm the odd one out."

Image source, Reuters

Helen, who is in her fifties, said she is still struggling with the effects of the virus.

"It's hell on earth, you don't want it, you don't want to give it to others.

"This is about doing the right thing".

As coronavirus puts huge strain on the jobs market, four experts offer advice for finding work during a global health crisis.

Read more on this here.

Image source, PA Media

Almost four months into the UK's coronavirus lockdown, face coverings are gradually becoming a significant, and in some places mandatory, part of the government's strategy to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Face coverings were made compulsory on public transport and for hospital and care home visits in Northern Ireland last week, and there is now a proposal to make them mandatory in shops.

But why now? At the start of the pandemic, international health experts advised masks should be used by medical workers, but did not extend this to the general public.

There were concerns that face coverings could provide a false sense of security, and that people might touch their faces more to adjust the covering, leading to infection.

The mixed messages have even perplexed virus expert Ultan Power, Professor of Molecular Virology at Queen's University Belfast.

"It has been very confusing over the last few months" he told the BBC's Nolan Show.

"I have been following the information about whether or not face masks add to the mitigations that we have to try and prevent transmission of the disease.

"I think the evidence is accumulating and it's accumulating in the direction to say that masks will help."

Prof Power added that it was important that face covering were not considered "in isolation" as a means of combating the spread of Covid-19.

"It's all part of a package of mitigations that we need to consider every time we're talking about the virus," he said.

"Stronger, stronger evidence is coming out that suggests where you do use masks, you have a reduction in the level of transmission within communities."

The bookshop Eason has told staff that it will not be reopening its stores in Northern Ireland.

The company's seven shops in Northern Ireland have been closed since 23 March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"There's been a lot of pressure on Eason because of the way people are now shopping, but it's still a big blow," said Aodhán Connolly of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium.

"A lot of people are blaming this on Covid-19, and yes that is a factor, but all Covid-19 has done is accelerated the pace of change that was already happening on the high street," Mr Connolly said.

"We've moved 10 years ahead in 10 weeks," he added.

Mr Connolly said online shopping and the reduction of footfall on our high streets had already damaged many businesses here.

He told BBC Radio Foyle the outpouring of messages on social media shows the importance the bookshop held for so many people here.

"For a lot of people growing up in Northern Ireland in the 80s and 90s, Eason's was that mainstay of somewhere to go and buy something different".

Mr Connolly said that the bookshop provided people of Northern Ireland with "a particular niche".

Face masks and coverings are likely to become a more common part of everyday life for us all.

But if you wear your face covering incorrectly, you could actually be putting yourself more at risk from coronavirus.

Here's a handy guide to help make sure you've got your mask on right.

The reopening of businesses like bars and hairdressers might make it feel like lockdown is over - but for some with serious health problems, that is not the case.

Nicole Adams and Rob McAdam have both been shielding since the start of lockdown.

Ms Adams, a 28-year-old from Newtownabbey with cystic fibrosis, welcomed the news that Health Minister Robin Swann was planning to make masks mandatory in shops.

"With masks, it would be just such a good idea. Not just that I would get protection from others, but I would be protecting others from myself," she told Good Morning Ulster.

"It would give me quite a lot of confidence to venture out."

Image source, AFP

Ms Adams said she had been at home since January, having started shielding prior to the Covid-19 pandemic due to being sick over Christmas.

Rob McAdam, who is from Belfast and has asthma, said he had worn a mask every time he had left the house during the pandemic.

Responding to people who have a resistance to wearing a mask, he said they should think about what is needed to keep everyone safe.

"We’ve lost our freedoms, some of them, as a result of Covid-19. We’ve had some of our liberties removed. Ultimately - why has that happened?" he said.

"It hasn’t been easy for the Northern Ireland Executive to take that decision. That decision has been taken to put public health at the forefront of the things we do."

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political correspondent

A committee of MPs has warned about the danger of devolution "being blown off course" in Northern Ireland.

The NI Affairs Committee has called on the government to help prevent this by setting out a financial plan to deal with the fall-out from Covid-19.

It also called for a change in the working cultures at Stormont to ensure the "fragile" executive survives.

Image source, Reuters

It recommends strengthening links between the other devolved legislatures by creating "fellowship schemes".

Officials should be given secondment opportunities, it suggested.

Read more here.

The way the UK reports unemployment may not reflect the "true scale of joblessness", says a think tank.

Unemployment rose by 34,000 in April to reach 1.3 million, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

But the Resolution Foundation argues that the 23% drop in average hours worked between early March and late April is a better indicator of unemployment.

Image source, Getty Images

The ONS said it publishes a large selection of analysis on employment.

Official numbers on how many people are out of work and claiming unemployment benefits were published earlier on Thursday.

Read more here.

Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent

Health Minister Robin Swann is to make a recommendation to the executive next week that the wearing of face coverings in shops should become mandatory.

That's being backed now by the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser, with it likely to be brought in to coincide with the end of shielding on 31 July.

The transmission rate in Northern Ireland remains low at the moment, with a feeling that waiting two weeks until 31 July before bringing in change will not do any harm.

Image source, Nurphoto

The feeling is, we're going to be wearing these masks, once they become mandatory, for a pretty long time.

You could be looking at four to six months, maybe even longer if the R rate doesn't go down.

It is thought health officials would like to see 80% of the public wearing masks or face coverings by 1 September.

John Campbell
BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor

Employers in Northern Ireland proposed almost 2,500 redundancies in June, which is the highest monthly figure on record.

A further 745 redundancies were proposed in the first two weeks of July.

The total number of proposed redundancies since the start of March is now 4,900.

Companies are required to notify the government when they plan to make more than 20 people redundant.

Image source, PA Media

The statistics agency, Nisra, said the redundancies have been concentrated in retail, hospitality, manufacturing and transportation.

Those four sectors accounted for almost 90% of proposed redundancies between March and the end of June.

The latest labour market figures also suggest that about one-in-five employees are currently furloughed.

Read more here.

The Irish government's decision to delay the next phase of it plan to ease the Covid-19 lockdown is a "hammer blow" to the pub industry, the taoiseach (Irish PM) has said.

The Republic of Ireland was due to implement phase four of its five-stage roadmap to recovery plan, external on Monday 20 July, but this had to be paused after a rise in new infections.

Currently, Irish pubs and hotel bars are only allowed to open if they serve food - phase four would have permitted all pubs to open.

Image source, PA Media

The brakes were applied after last week's confirmation that Ireland's R number - the number of people an infected person is expected to pass the disease on to - rose above one

"Given the risk of the spread of infection associated with social gatherings, as well as the evidence of outbreaks from bars and pubs in other countries, pubs, bars, hotel bars, nightclubs and casinos will remain closed until 10 August," the government said.

After the announcement on Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there was real concern over the recent rise in Covid-19 cases.

He added if the current trajectory continued, it would delay the planned re-opening of schools at the end of August.

The number of workers on UK payrolls has fallen by 649,000 between March and June, official figures indicate.

The number of people claiming work-related benefits - including the unemployed - was 2.6 million.

However, the increase was not as big as many feared, because large numbers of firms have put employees on the government-backed furlough scheme.

Economists say the full effect on employment will not be felt until the scheme ends in October.

Read more here.

Micheál Martin will visit Northern Ireland later to meet the Stormont parties for the first time since becoming taoiseach (Irish PM).

He will hold talks with the first and deputy first ministers about the two governments' response to coronavirus.

Mr Martin is also due to meet representatives from the UUP, SDLP and Alliance.

The trip was originally expected to take place last week, but was postponed due to late planning.

Image source, PA Media

Mr Martin is expected to discuss the differences in quarantine rules in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill.

Last week the Stormont Executive changed its rules so that people coming from almost 60 countries into NI do not need to self-isolate when they arrive.

Read more here.

• The BT4 postcode area in east Belfast recorded the most Covid-19 deaths in Northern Ireland, external, according to figures from statistics agency Nisra.
• Nine new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Northern Ireland, five of which were in the Causeway Coast and Glens Council area. No deaths were recorded.
• The British Dental Association warned a delay to an order of three million items of PPE for NHS dentists in NI could see some treatments pushed back. The items won't arrive until 20 July.
• Health Minister Robin Swann remains set to bring a proposal to the executive to make face coverings mandatory in shops in Northern Ireland.

Good morning and welcome to our live page coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.

We'll keep you up to date with the latest developments and news throughout the day.