Steve McGookinWelcome to Northern Slant’s weekly round-up of local virus-related items you might have missed. The next update will appear on 21 August and our final update will appear the following week, ending 28 August.
Previous updates are here, for the weeks ending:
- 7 August
- 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
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An uncertain time for education
As if there wasn’t enough controversy surrounding Northern Ireland’s schools this week over the issue of grades, confusion continues over social distancing and Covid precautions as pupils prepare to return to classes by the end of the month.
The Department of Health said it was “highly likely” that clusters of infection could emerge once pupils return to classes, while Education Minister Peter Weir had said the Northern Ireland Executive would not be recommending compulsory face coverings for pupils.
The confusion over back-to-school measures comes as the latest local data for Covid-19 infections and fatalities was released, with the increasing ‘R-number’ this week leading Health Minister Robin Swann to say he was “concerned” about the trend.
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Challenging outlook for local economy
Northern Ireland’s economy will not recover from the effects of the Coronavirus until 2024, according to the latest EY Economic Eye report. The report also says the economy in the Republic is likely to return to 2019 levels one year earlier. The warning comes as the UK as a whole this week entered a recession, recording its biggest-ever fall in GDP in the second quarter.
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Other virus news items this week
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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 for Action
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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.