NORTHERN IRELAND will re-enter lockdown the day after Christmas, it has been confirmed.
The lockdown will last for six weeks, from 26 December until early February, after Stormont ministers last night agreed the situation as becoming "dire".
From 26 December, all non-essential retail will close, as will contact services such as hairdressers and barbers, no sporting events are permitted, and the hospitality sector will be reduced to serving takeaway food and drink only.
An 8pm curfew will come into effect, which will involve people being unable to visit others after that time, as well as essential retail such as supermarkets also closing, RTÉ News reports.
Minister for Health, Robin Swann, said the strict measures were necessary to "send a signal this is how serious this has to be taken, this is how much we're asking of the people of Northern Ireland."
The overarching message is to stay at home, he added.
Ministers in Stormont made the decision yesterday as they agreed the situation was turning direDeputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill, said Northern Ireland was in a dire position, and "the health service would be completely crushed in January if we didn't intervene now".
She told RTÉ News: "Whilst this is draconian in many ways, it's necessary-- and this is about saving lives, this is about saving the health service and this is about taking some pressure off the health care staff."
Northern Ireland's buckling health service was placed under the spotlight earlier this week when it was revealed that some patients were being treated in the car park of the hospital, as up to 17 ambulances queued outside the Emergency Department.
The decision comes after a further 656 cases were confirmed yesterday in the north, bringing the region's total to 60,287.
12 more people haeve also passed away from the virus, taking the toll to 1,154.
