Coronavirus in NI care homes a 'critical battle' for executive

Arlene FosterKelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA Wire

Mrs Foster said the executive was dealing with coronavirus in care homes in proactive way

By Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI Political Reporter

Tackling Covid-19 in care homes is still a "critical battle", the first and deputy first ministers have said.

On Friday it emerged some residents were being moved from a north Belfast care home due to concerns about its handling of an outbreak.

Almost half of the 664 Covid-linked deaths recorded by NI's statistics agency, Nisra, occurred in care homes.

Speaking in a joint interview on Sky News, Arlene Foster said care homes had always been a focus for the executive.

The first minister said the Department of Health had been planning to make sure it could deal with care home outbreaks, alongside hospital transmissions of the virus.

"We have made many interventions in our private care home sector as well," she said.

"The whole executive acknowledges care homes are a critical battle for us now and we want to deal with it in a very proactive way."

Last week, the Department of Health said testing on all care home residents will be completed by the end of June.

On Sunday, one further coronavirus-related death in Northern Ireland was reported by the Department of Health (DoH).

Its total now stands at 506 which are mostly focused on hospital deaths.

Weekly figures released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) cover all fatalities where coronavirus has been recorded on the death certificate.

Their figures recorded 664 deaths by 15 May, almost half of which happened in care homes.

'Working together to save lives'

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said she believed tackling the pandemic had brought the Stormont parties closer together.

"In so far as we're having to work around the clock to take this on," said Ms O'Neill.

"There's been differences in emphasis but not differences in approach. We were thrust into this but executive colleagues have worked closely together to save lives".

Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye/PA Wire

Ms O'Neill said they were finding living with restrictions "as hard as everybody else"

Both ministers said they had also felt the strain of the pandemic affecting their normal lives.

Ms O'Neill said as political leaders, they had given up much "family time".

"We're no different to anybody else, we find it as hard as everybody else," said the deputy first minister.

"Our reality is the same as everybody else's."

Mrs Foster said she missed the "ordinary things we take for granted", like going to church and getting her hair cut.

"I hope after this that people do value their freedom and all these things they haven't been able to do over the past eight weeks," she added.

The first steps to ease lockdown in Northern Ireland took effect last week.

The executive is next due to review the lockdown regulations by 28 May, but it has not put a timetable into its five-step pathway to recovery for Northern Ireland.

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