Jamie PowWelcome to Northern Slant’s weekly round-up of local virus-related items you might have missed. The next update will appear on 14 August. Previous updates are here, for the weeks ending:
- 3 July, 10 July, 17 July, 24 July, 31 July;
- 26 June, 19 June, 12 June, 5 June;
- 29 May, 15 May, 8 May, 1 May;
- 24 April, 17 April, 10 April.
You might like to read the thoughts of some of our contributors – and perhaps add your own – on ‘Hopes for Northern Ireland.’
See Also:
- Will Mental Health Issues Be The Next Wave? by Kevin McAteer – 7 July
- Putting Wellbeing at the Centre of a ‘Build Back Better’ Recovery – 6 July
- Surgery and Trauma: A Junior Doctor’s Perspective of Lockdown and Why We Can’t Repeat it – 18 June
- Lockdown lore, from Newry to Indonesia by Fionnbharr Rodgers – 16 June
- How churches can continue to function during lockdown by Jason Sime – 6 May
- The impact of Covid-19 on farming and food production by Ben McAteer – 5 May
- From ‘Flattening the Curve’ to ‘Bending the Curve’? Lessons from responses to Coronavirus for addressing our planetary emergency by John Barry – 21 April
And read a first-person account from the beginning of the pandemic by NS contributor Callum McNeill here:
- Escaping The Coronavirus – 9 February
All pupils to head back to school
The Education Minister, Peter Weir, has announced that all pupils will be required to return to school on a full-time basis at the end of August. Social distancing will still be recommended as much as possible – and will remain in place for interactions between staff, and ideally between staff and pupils – but previous plans to keep pupils at least one metre apart from each other (and returning only on a part-time basis) have been dropped.
Instead, classes in pre-schools, primary schools and special schools will operate as “bubbles” to minimise interaction with other pupils. Arrangements will be different for post-primary pupils. The Chief Scientific Officer has suggested that there may be “some benefit” to older pupils wearing face masks, but this is not currently part of the advice set out by the Department of Education.
Further guidance will be issued next week.
Meanwhile, plans to allow wet bars to reopen have been postponed and face coverings will be mandatory in shops from Monday.
After the launch of Northern Ireland’s Covid-tracing app a week ago, hundreds of thousands of people have already downloaded the app. If you’re not one of them, you are encouraged to download it as soon as possible.
A final act of leadership
This week Northern Ireland mourned the loss of a leader and pioneering peacemaker. Ongoing restrictions meant that the funeral of John Hume was a lower-key event than would ordinarily have been expected for a statesman of his stature. His own son, Aidan, was unable to travel to Derry from his home in the United States.
But, as former party colleague Denis Bradley put it, the service was “a deeper memorial because it was so personal” and “more powerful because of the clutter of celebrity not being present.”
Instead of lining the streets to St Eugene’s Cathedral, John Hume’s family requested that people stay at home and pay their respects by lighting a candle on Tuesday night.
Other virus news items this week
Calls for hope and calls to action
Northern Slant aims to highlight some of the good news stories happening all around us. We’ll also show how communities are responding to the crisis, sharing details of how you might be able to get involved yourself.
Calls for Hope
Calls to action
Information and resources
Keep up with the latest updates from the Northern Ireland Department of Health here.
And from Belfast City Council here.
Have a good weekend.
