| Good afternoon everyone
These are very strange times for us all, and while the coronavirus lockdown may have eased slightly, it is still having a profound effect on all of our lives.
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The economic impact of coronavirus was underlined on Friday when it was revealed that Belfast International Airport, which has seen its flight schedule decimated over the last few months, will be making 45 employees redundant out of a total workforce of 195.
The airport's managing director estimates that it could take several years before the number of flights returns to pre-coronavirus levels.
The weekend weather promises to be sunny and warm. I hope you can all enjoy it while following social distancing guidelines.
Alistair Bushe Editor, News Letter Twitter: @abushe7 If you receive this email as a subscriber thank you for supporting us. If you are a registered reader on our site you can further help us continue to produce quality journalism that matters. Digital subscription to the News Letter are available on www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions and pay just £1 for the first three months
Today's coronavirus update: The number of people to die after testing positive for COVID-19 in Northern Ireland increased by three in the last 24 hours One of the three deaths occurred in the last 24 period with the other two taking place outside that time frame but they were reported to health officials within the last day.
The number of COVID-19 related deaths has shot up to 716 after the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) reported 47 new deaths for the week ending May 22, 2020 The report showed a disparity between the way in which NISRA and the Department of Health (DoH) record COVID-19 related deaths. DoH reported 504 COVID-19 related deaths up May 22 whilst NISRA reported 716 for the same period.
A 101-year-old retired nurse has raised thousands of pounds for the NHS as she aims to walk 102 laps of her local park before she turns 102 Following in Captain Sir Thomas Moore's footsteps, the former auxiliary nurse and Second World War veteran aims to raise as much money as possible for the service she worked in for much of her life.
Northern Ireland's R-number is climbing again after a period in which it had been plateauing and then falling – but it remains unclear whether that demonstrates an upsurge in the virus or simply reflects greater testing or other factors The number indicates how fast coronavirus is transmitting – an R number of one means that every person who gets the virus infects one other person, meaning that only a figure beneath one will mean that the spread of the virus is slowing.
Tens of thousands of jobs could be lost if restrictions on hotels, pubs and restaurants aren't eased soon, Hospitality Ulster has said That stark warning came after the first and deputy first ministers announced a further easing of the coronavirus lockdown yesterday.
A passenger on a bus was arrested for drugs offences and attempted grevious bodily harm with intent when he spat at PSNI officers telling them he had COVID-19 Police were responding to reports of two disruptive passengers when the man spat at them. | |