A FULL coronavirus lock-down appears imminent after First Minister Arlene Foster warned that social distancing guidelines may be enforced.
Speaking before the second coronavirus-linked death in Northern Ireland was confirmed yesterday, the DUP leader said the two-metre guidelines may have to be enforced amid concerns that many people in parks, supermarkets and other public spaces were flouting the rules.
In his daily briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday people must adhere to the guidelines and suggested more stringent measures could be introduced.
"We will bring forward further measures if we think that is necessary," he said as the UK death toll shot up to 281 - a rise of 48 in a day.
However, the prime minister was criticised for appearing not to adhere to the two-metre guidelines himself during yesterday evening's press conference.
So far, there are 128 cases in the north and 906 in the Republic, making a total of 1,034 on the island.
A total of six people have died in Ireland - two in the north and four in the Republic. A man with an underlying health condition died in the east of the Republic yesterday.
Mrs Foster told the BBC's Sunday Politics show yesterday: "There will be legislation which will allow us to enforce social distancing and enforce all of these matters and of course one does not want to have to go down that road, but really it appears that in some cases we are going to have to enforce it."
Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill told the same programme that all non-essential services should be closed.
"Anybody who's not on the frontline providing food, providing pharmacy services, anybody who's not in that category - I believe you should be shut down," she said.
The Department of Health announced yesterday that a second person in the north had died from the virus.
The patient, who was elderly and had an underlying health condition, was being treated in hospital for Covid-19.
Health Minister Robin Swann said the news should "bring it home to every one of us that coronavirus is a real and present danger".
So far, there have been 128 confirmed cases in Northern Ireland - a rise of 20 from Saturday.
The cases are evenly spread across all ages, with 44 cases in the 0-44 age group, a further 44 in the 45 to 69 group and 40 cases in the over-70 age bracket.
A total of 73 men have contracted the virus, compared to 55 women.
There are now 5,683 confirmed cases in the UK - a rise of 665 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Italy, which has been worst hit by the virus, has reported 651 new deaths, taking the total number of dead to 5,476.
