Today the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon
, and the Tánaiste, Simon
Coveney, jointly chaired a fourth conference call, with the First
Minister, the Rt Hon , deputy First Minister
Michelle O’Neill, Health Minister and Minister for Health
Simon Harris to discuss the ongoing response to COVID-19.
They reviewed the latest developments in the collective effort to
combat COVID-19 and the ongoing cooperation between the Ministers
of Health and Chief Medical Officers through the framework of the
Memorandum of Understanding.
They discussed respective plans for the gradual and controlled
easing of restrictions given the importance of implementing
consistent approaches wherever possible and strong collaborative
arrangements.
They welcomed the shared commitment to a phased approach to
easing restrictions and roadmaps – recognising that these
measures will need to be implemented with flexibility based on
the constant monitoring of the transmission rate of the virus in
communities and strong data-sharing arrangements North/South.
It was agreed that our approaches will be aimed at avoiding a
second wave of the virus and that the cooperation of the public
everywhere will be crucial to this in the long-term in
implementing social distancing, carrying out good hand hygiene,
and following self-isolation guidance for those experiencing
symptoms.
They agreed to continue to meet regularly in this format, in
addition to the ongoing regular engagement between Health
Ministers, Chief Medical Officers and between relevant Ministers
on specific issues.
