Some NI retailers 'better off closed' as a result of circuit-breaker downturn in trade

Some retailers believe they would have been "better off closed" because of the knock-on impact of coronavirus restrictions on other parts of the economy.

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Subscribe              Oct 22, 2020           Dear reader,   The Irish Football Association is planning on allowing at least 600 supporters to attend Northern Ireland's European Championship play-off final against Slovakia next month.   The start of the Irish Premier League season was overshadowed by an ongoing debate over whether fans should be permitted inside grounds.    But the IFA chief executive Patrick Nelson said he believed 600 to 1,000 fans could be safely accommodated in the National Stadium at Windsor Park within the current regulations for the match on November 12.   The news comes as another five deaths related to coronavirus were recorded in Northern Ireland over the previous 24 hours.    With another 1,024 new infections recorded in the same period, Northern Ireland has passed the 30,000 mark for positive cases of coronavirus.    The other big talking point of the day was the number of Stormont MLAs being forced to self-isolate. Finance Minister Conor Murphy confirmed on Thursday that he was self-isolating after a family member tested positive for the virus.    Mr Murphy's statement follows confirmation that MLAs John Stewart, Pam Cameron, Andy Allen and Trevor Lunn are all having to self-isolate.  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.             Some retailers 'better off closed' due to circuit-breaker downturn           Some retailers believe they would have been "better off closed" because of the knock-on impact of coronavirus restrictions on other parts of the economy.                 Arlene Foster: There are no easy answers to Covid — the threat is real, yet we cannot keep closing the country down   Over the last number of days I have received many messages from people about the situation in Northern Ireland.           These are the 35 NI postcodes with the highest number of new positive Covid-19 cases in the last seven days   The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland is continuing to rise.           Hundreds of Halloween treats redistributed after Whitehead steam train hits the Covid-restricted buffers   Halloween arrived early for hundreds of children after Whitehead's Railway Museum had to shut after pandemic response restrictions tightened.           'A chaotic nightmare' – the hunt for a plain English explanation of NI's Covid laws   The NI government's efforts to set out clearly what the legally-enforceable coronavirus regulations are have been described as "chaotic" and a "nightmare".           Plea for Economy Minister not to leave out some busineses from COVID-19 help packages   Assurances must be given by the Economy Minister that new COVID-19 financial assistance schemes don't exclude some businesses, says the SDLP.           NI moves past 30,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as five additional deaths recorded in last 24 hours   The Northern Ireland Covid-19 death-toll continues to increase every 24 hours.                 View more on Coronavirus

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