Warning that NI unemployment could top 100,000 by end of year

Northern Ireland's Covid-19 tracing app is to be extended to children and young people from next month, the health minister said.

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News   What's On   Lifestyle              Aug 26, 2020           Dear reader,   The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Northern Ireland workforce was outlined in stark terms on Wednesday.    Economy Minister Diane Dodds warned that more than 100,000 people could be unemployed by the end of 2020. The number claiming benefits here has already doubled since the start of the pandemic to 62,800 in July. And appearing at her department's scrutiny committee on Wednesday, Mrs Dodds warned of worse to come with the UK's jobs retention scheme due to end in October.    Mrs Dodds spoke out after another day of uncomfortably high new coronavirus cases. The Department of Health revealed that another 72 cases of Covid-19 had been confirmed over the last 24 hours in the Province. That means there have been 384 new cases of the virus over the last week.    However, crucially, hospital admissions remain low and no new deaths relating to Covid-19 have been reported.    In other news, Peter Weir, the education minister, denied that he was following Scotland's lead after confirming that secondary school pupils here will be asked to wear masks in school corridors.    Another school has been affected by the virus. Cairnshill Primary School in Belfast said it was closing part of its school building and a number of staff and pupils were self-isolating after a member of the school's community tested positive for Covid.   Take care.   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.           Coronavirus: NI Covid-19 tracing app extended to young people from September           Northern Ireland's Covid-19 tracing app is to be extended to children and young people from next month, the health minister said.                 Antrim and Newtownabbey PSNI stations to reopen after Covid-19 closure   Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd has confirmed that Antrim and Newtownabbey Police Stations will reopen to the public tonight (Wednesday) after they were closed due to a coronavirus cluster at the weekend.           CoCo Craft Pizza is a go go during pandemic   Magherafelt's newest restaurant, CoCo Craft Pizza, has opened its doors and kitchen, despite being amid a struggling industry due to the Covid-19 outbreak.           Lough Erne Resort sets industry standards with compulsory use of facial protection by staff   The 5-star Lough Erne Resort has become the first hotel in Northern Ireland to introduce compulsory use of face coverings by all staff within the resort.                 View more on Coronavirus

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