Executive agrees to increase Covid fines and extends list of places where face masks must be worn

A prediction that jobless numbers in Northern Ireland will rise to 100,000 by the end of the year now looks like an optimistic forecast, the economy minister has warned.

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Subscribe              Oct 8, 2020           Dear reader,   The Covid-19 pandemic tends to deliver a stream of difficult news, but there is the odd story that lifts the spirits during these very trying times.   Earlier this year Belfast mum Danielle Green, who was nine weeks' pregnant, was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Danielle's condition deteriorated and she tested positive for Covid-19 on April 1. She was admitted to an intensive care unit where she spent 10 days in an induced coma and on a ventilator.   At that stage her husband Bryan, from the Shankill Road area, was told that it was unlikely that the baby Danielle was carrying would survive the ordeal.    However,it wasn't long before Danielle successfully emerged from intensive care with the news that she was expecting twins, and "two little miracles" called Ava and Amelia were born earlier this week.   It's a lovely story in an otherwise tough time. Another 923 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed on Thursday in Northern Ireland, with a woman in her eighties the latest person to die having had Covid-19.    Meanwhile Stephen Nolan, the BBC presenter, attracted both praise and stinging criticism after he challenged people at a Belfast filling station for not wearing face masks.    The blogger Jamie Bryson, and the boxer Paddy Barnes, were among those who criticised Mr Nolan, with footage of the petrol station incidents broadcast on the Nolan Live programme on BBC One.    Stay safe.   Alistair Bushe, Editor     Want total access to all of our online content? You can subscribe to our website, newsletter.co.uk for just £1 a month for 3 months - and it couldn't be easier. Signing up will get you faster-loading articles, fewer adverts and access to exclusive content and events when we run them. To learn more, visit our Subscriptions page here.           Prediction of 100,000 jobless in NI now looks optimistic, warns Diane Dodds           A prediction that jobless numbers in Northern Ireland will rise to 100,000 by the end of the year now looks like an optimistic forecast, the economy minister has warned.                 Robin Swann makes new appeal for doctors and nurses to come forward to help the health service battle Covid   The health minister has relaunched a workforce appeal - to boost the number of healthcare workers to assist in the battle against Covid.           NI school, which has had 19 cases of COVID-19, in plea for pupils not to attend house parties   An NI school, which has had up to 19 cases of COVID-19, has appealed to senior pupils not to attend planned house parties this weekend.           Mallon accused of 'driving test backlog fisaco'   A prominent DUP figure has rounded upon SDLP transport minister Nichola Mallon, calling for her department to be put into "special measures" over what he says is a failure to get to grips with NI's "driving test fiasco".           Opinion: Robin Swann blames the public, but track and trace failures and Executive's confusing restrictions are factors in soaring Covid-19 figures   The spiralling number of Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland makes for grim reading indeed.           Pupils at top NI grammar school being sent home after one student tests positive   Around 200 pupils at a top NI grammar school are being sent home this morning after a pupil in their year group tested positive for COVID-19.           Health Committee says 'show us the evidence' for new NI Covid restrictions   Stormont's Health Committee has pressed for sight of scientific evidence used in decision-making about coronavirus regulations.                 View more on Coronavirus

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