So, as expected the NI Executive has agreed new coronavirus lockdown measures to begin on 26 December.

The new rules will include:

• Closure of all non-essential retail, including garden centres and homeware shops that previously were deemed essential
• Click-and-collect services will not be permitted
• Closure of close contact services such as hair and beauty salons
• Hospitality businesses will only be allowed to offer takeaway and delivery
• Off-licences will have to close by 20:00
• Car washes will be closed
• Hotels will be allowed to remain open until 28 December to "accommodate the Christmas situation"

A definitive list of restrictions is expected from the NI Executive in due course, but in the meantime the health minister said when people are wondering what they can and can not do, they should remember the first lockdown.

"Manage your activity, manage your day-to-day life as to how you did then," said Robin Swann.

"Because it worked for us then.

"This is how serious this has to be taken, this is how much we are asking of the people of Northern Ireland."

Chair of NI's British Medical Association (BMA) Dr Tom Black says the six-week lockdown will be a "great sacrifice for us all", but will give front line workers "a fighting chance to treat the most sick and vulnerable this winter".

"Frontline doctors, nurses and health service staff have unimaginable pressures ahead of them over the next few weeks as they try to deliver patient care while Covid cases continue to rise.

“We urge everyone to get behind the health service again," the Londonderry GP added.

Londonderry hotel director Ciaran O'Neill has said the stop-start approach of opening and closing businesses is very bad for consumer confidence and believes it's potentially doing "damage" to businesses in the long-term.

The managing director of Bishop's Gate Hotel in Derry conceded that ministers in Stormont have a very difficult job, but believes they are failing to recognise the challenges faced by many in the hospitality sector.

Mr O'Neill said he was frustrated that many in the hotel sector are still waiting on financial support from the NI Executive, which was promised more than 10 weeks ago.

"If we are going to go into lockdown we need to return to what we had in March - a complete lockdown," Mr O'Neill said.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said she recognised the lockdown would be "disappointing" for many people, but that it was clear a "longer and deeper intervention" was necessary.

"The health service would be completely crushed in January if we didn't intervene now, so while this is draconian, it's about saving lives," she said.

"We've never been in such a bad position as we are now, and will be in January if this didn't happen now."

Health Minister Robin Swann, who had proposed the package of measures, said it was the "deepest and hardest" decision ministers had faced since the beginning of the pandemic.

"There was no other way and the message come Boxing Day will be 'work from home, and stay at home'," he added.

Mr Swann also revealed that by Thursday evening, almost 10,000 people in Northern Ireland had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr Michael McBride, NI's Chief Medical Officer said the situation "does not get more serious than this".

"These interventions and restrictions are absolutely necessary and I know they'll cause concerns but if we are to get this virus under control, and take the pressure off our hospitals, then these are absolutely essential."

Northern Ireland Retail Consortium Director Aodhán Connolly said they accepted that "non-essential’ retail has to close for a short period to support the efforts that are being made to reduce the R rate".

However, he said it was vital that shops could reopen at the end of the six-week lockdown.

"We are asking government urgently to provide clarity about the criteria for reopening and to ensure that affected businesses are supported in the coming weeks.

"We also need shoppers to continue to act responsibly in the shopping days that are left until Christmas.

"Wear a face covering in store and when queueing, keep your distance, wash your hands, leave extra time for shopping, avoid peak times and most of all be kind to staff and other shoppers.”

Retail NI has said the six-week lockdown will result in a "tsunami of independent retailers falling and thousands more jobs being lost with permanent damage done to our local high streets”.

Its chief executive Glyn Roberts says it is "profoundly disappointing" that the NI Executive had to take "this course of action because of non-compliance of individuals and households with the Covid-19 regulations".

“Independent retailers selling clothes, books and toys will be forced to close their doors without even a click and collect option, while large supermarkets will remain open selling those same products.

"Where is the fairness in this?”

“It is also extremely concerning that many businesses are still awaiting financial support payments from the last lockdown.

"The Executive must work night and day to ensure that payments are made without delay to impacted independent retailers and small businesses.”

Reacting to news of the six-week lockdown, Colin Neill of Hospitality Ulster said it was "the news that we have been dreading for some time".

"We do not welcome it, nor do we want it, but we support the decision to get the virus under control and get the hospitality sector back on its feet again as quickly as possible," he said.

"It is with a heavy heart, but we will work with the government and abide by the decision.”

Mr Neill said the sector now needed "urgent financial assistance".

“Unfortunately this will sound the death knell for so many who will simply not be able to see through this enforced period.

"The impact on the economy will run into the hundreds of millions, thousands of redundancies and a sector dead on its feet.

“We are appealing for everyone to abide by this decision which has come at such a heavy price so that we never have to experience anything like this again.”

Michelle O'Neill says that in terms of Covid-19, NI is in "probably the worst position we have been in the whole way through the pandemic".

"I think the health service would be completely crushed in January if we didn't intervene now."

She said the latest announcements may seem "draconian", but it is about "saving lives".

Ms O'Neill asked the public to "heed that we are in a desperate situations" and urges people to "work with us".

Jenny Doherty, who owns Little Acorns bookshop in Londonderry, has said the announcement is "gutting" for non-essential business owners, but understands that public health must come first.

Non-essential shops in NI will close from the end of trading on Christmas Eve in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19. The Stormont Executive will review these measures after four weeks.

"It's heart breaking, it really is, we've only just reopened but I understand in a way because our figures are really not good at the moment," Ms Doherty told BBC News NI.

"It's one step forward and three steps back," she added.

The independent bookshop owner fears that "people will go crazy" in the following days following the announcement and will try and get as much shopping and socialising in before any restrictions come into affect.

The deputy first minister says it is about "saving our health service" and the protection of health care workers.

"These are difficult days and difficult times but this is a necessary intervention," she says.

Ms O'Neill said schools will remain "open for now", but that "health and education continue that conversation around "blended learning and other things".

Ms O'Neill says coronavirus restrictions will be back to as it "was two weeks ago", but the flexibility over the Christmas period from 23 to 27 December remains.

"The message we want to drive home is please limit your contacts with people," she says.

"The message is back to 'stay at home, work from home'.

"That is very much what we are saying."

Ms O'Neill says the announcement will be disappointing to many, but that "a lot of people would have expected it".

She accepts it will be "challenging for many, many people".

"We tried to get a balance in all of these things, but it is clear, we needed a longer and deeper intervention."

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, speaking at Stormont, says an "urgent intervention" was needed.

She confirms a new lockdown will begin in Northern Ireland on 26 December.

She says she thinks it was the "right decision" by the executive.

Image source, PA Media

Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin has confirmed new Covid-19 restrictions will be recommended in Ireland before the end of the year.

Speaking to RTÉ News, he said the Irish government will "take very seriously" calls by the National Public Health Emergency Team to shorten the period for relaxed coronavirus measures.

He said the cabinet will meet on Tuesday and "people will be given plenty of notice".

Image source, PA Media

It is understood that the rules will include:

• Closure of all non-essential retail, including garden centres and homeware shops that previously were deemed essential
• Click-and-collect services will not be permitted
• Closure of close contact services such as hair and beauty salons
• Hospitality businesses will only be allowed to offer takeaway and delivery

It's also thought that during the first week of lockdown, essential shops allowed to stay open could have to shut by 20:00 GMT.

During this week, people would also not be allowed to meet others in private gardens, while restrictions on indoor visits to people's homes will remain in place.

It's understood people from up to three households in Northern Ireland will still be able to meet over the festive period in so-called Christmas "bubbles".

It follows a previous agreement between the UK nations to stick to plans to allow three households to mix between 23 and 27 December.

Image source, PA Media

The Irish Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has told the Dáil (Irish parliament) that the estimated rate of coronavirus transmission - the 'R' number - is between 1.1. and 1.3, RTÉ is reporting, external.

He described the situation as "precarious" and said a discussion he held with Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan today was "very sobering".

Dr Holohan said there were significant indicators that the disease was moving in the wrong direction.

Restrictions on households visits and travel around the country are due to be eased tomorrow for the Christmas and New Year period.

However, government ministers have said there is no guarantee that they would not reimpose stricter restrictions in the coming week

Non-essential shops in NI will close from the end of trading on Christmas Eve for at least four weeks, it is understood.

Ministers agreed a six-week lockdown will be imposed from Boxing Day, in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The Stormont Executive will review the measures after four weeks.

Close-contact services, such as hair salons, will have to shut and hospitality will be restricted to delivering takeaway services.

Image source, PA Media

Europe's response to the coronavirus pandemic varies from country to country, depending on the rates of coronavirus infection.

• France has imposed a nationwide curfew between 20:00 and 06:00, which will be lifted for Christmas Eve but not on New Year's Eve. The new measures will stay in place until at least 20 January.

• Germany will enter a new nationwide lockdown on 16 December, which will last until 10 January.Non-essential shops, businesses such as hairdressers and schools will close. Restaurants, bars and leisure centres will also remain closed.

• Greece will have its lockdown run through to 7 January and people must get permission to leave their homes by sending a text message to a government number, including the reason and their personal details.
• Italy have banned people travelling between regions. Many regions are in partial lockdown, under a three-tier system (red, orange and yellow zones).
• Spain introduced new rules for Christmas. From 23 December to 6 January, travel between regions will be allowed only to visit friends and family.