It's been another busy day in terms of the pandemic, with anyone hoping to hear details of how Northern Ireland's restrictions would be lifted likely to have been left disappointed.

On a brighter note, the first and deputy first ministers did say that a road map is to be revealed at the start of next week.

Speaking of notes, and ahead of VE Day, it's worth another look at this pic from Enniskillen this evening.

Who can top the sounding of a World War Two air raid siren at the clap for carers next week?!

We'll be back tomorrow morning to report on the latest developments.

Until then, take care.

There's been plenty to report today, as Northern Ireland - like the rest of the UK and other countries around the world - continues its battle against Covid-19.

Here are some of Thursday's key developments:

• The first and deputy first ministers say there is "no headroom" to lift any lockdown restrictions in NI yet, with Michelle O'Neill later tweeting the executive had agreed to extend restrictions for three more weeks
• Fourteen people in a Killyleagh care home have died after being diagnosed with Covid-19, BBC News learned
• Four more deaths of people who had tested positive for the virus were reported by NI's health department, while a further 50 positive cases were confirmed
• Education Minister Peter Weir says is extremely likely there will be a phased return for NI schools in September

Image source, pacemaker

Justice Minister Naomi Long has told The View the Executive's plan to ease the lockdown won't be a "cut and paste" of those from other countries.

"We are developing our own strategy, and it's informed by the work that's been going on in Dublin, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Westminster," she said.

"We're going to come to the people with a Northern Ireland-specific plan."

Earlier, the first and deputy first ministers said there was "no headroom" to lift any Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in Northern Ireland yet.

"What it won’t be is calendar-led, so we're not going for a series of dates and targets... based on a calendar.

"But we can set targets that are based on the development of the disease, and are underpinned by the medical and scientific evidence," added Mrs Long.

"That's what we want to achieve."

Coming up shortly on BBC One, the programme features Justice Minister Naomi Long, business leaders and Northern Ireland's finest political analysis.

Pull up a chair!

More than 40 prisoners have covered 211 miles over five days in Magilligan Prison to raise funds for the NHS.

Prison governor Richard Taylor said the prisoners wanted to show their support for healthcare workers.

He added: "183 laps of the prison all-weather area equates to a full marathon.

"So we had 43 prisoners, one female health nurse and four Physical Education Instructors signed up to a relay-team effort where each completed 46 laps (6.5miles).“

By the end of the five days the teams had run the equivalent of 8 marathons.

Governor Taylor said they were sponsored by staff and prisoners, and all money raised will go towards purchasing material to make scrubs for healthcare staff.

More than a fifth of care homes here - 110 - are now caring for vulnerable older people with coronavirus or flu-like symptoms.

Statistics released earlier today showed there were 75 care homes with confirmed cases and 35 setting with a suspected outbreak, but those figures did not detail how many individual cases there are.

One care home in County Down has recorded 14 deaths and 39 confirmed cases.

In a statement this evening, the health department said it needed to be sure of the quality of the daily information from care homes before releasing more detailed information.

"While good progress has been made, work is still required to validate the data and ensure its consistency," said the department.

"Once work on this data set is complete, we believe it will provide us with more complete information on the position in our homes than any other part of the UK or Ireland."

Read more here

They’ve become one of the north west’s most popular regular social gathering’s but, like all get togethers, the mayor of Derry’s monthly tea dances have not taken place during lockdown.

But next week’s planned dance will go ahead – albeit in a new virtual format thanks to BBC Radio Foyle's Mark Patterson Show at 2pm on 12 May.

"The Tea Dances are one of my favourite events and they have a dedicated following of lively members of the older generation who would put us all to shame with their energy and vitality," Mayor Michaela Boyle says.

The Mayor says many tea dance regulars “will be shielding at home, and perhaps feeling more isolated from family and friends”.

"I wanted to do something positive to cheer people up by capturing some of the fun and memories from previous events, and reminding them that we will see a return to normality and many more Tea Dances to come.”

RTE is reporting Ireland's Minister for Education will make a recommendation tomorrow to cancel the Leaving Certificate examinations.

The cabinet in Dublin will be presented with possible alternatives to the final year exams which are used to determine university places for Irish students.

Earlier, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said if the Leaving Cert exams are cancelled "we have to make sure that we put in place an alternative", and stressed it would be difficult to come up with one that's fair.

Image source, RTE

Teacher representatives were briefed at trade union meetings last night, where other mechanisms for measuring student attainment were discussed, such as predicted grading and school profiling.

A similar scheme has already been put in place for GSCE, AS, and A level students in Northern Ireland who were due to sit exams this summer.

No pots and pans... instead a World War Two air raid siren was used during a clap for carers event at Enniskillen Royal Grammar school this evening.

First Minister Arlene Foster was also there for the tribute to key workers which had a VE day theme ahead of tomorrow's celebrations to mark 75 years since the end of the war.

“They are worthy heroes. I wish it was sounding the all clear," Brian Johnson, from Lisbellaw and South Fermanagh World War Society, said at the event.

Image source, Getty Images

Passengers travelling through some UK airports are being told to cover their faces and wear gloves due to Covid-19.

The new rules will apply to those travelling through Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports from Thursday.

The announcement comes as the aviation sector struggles with coronavirus.

Earlier this week concerns were raised about a lack of social distancing on an Aer Lingus flight between Belfast and London.

The three airports are believed to be the first in the UK to introduce such strict hygiene rules.

Read more here

Around 200 Derry City and Strabane District Council staff are to be placed on furlough.

Councillors agreed at a meeting earlier on Thursday to temporarily lay off workers "mainly within the leisure sections and those employed on a casual basis", a council spokeswoman says.

The furlough scheme supports employers hit by coronavirus by temporarily helping to pay the wages of people who can't do their jobs.

Image source, Getty Images

Employers can claim 80% of employee's wages - up to a maximum of £2,500 per employee, per month before tax, or £576.92 a week.

Derry and Strabane District council says it will make up the further 20% of affected staff’s wages.

On Wednesday Fermanagh and Omagh District Council staff said it had furloughed more than 200 staff, while Mid Ulster District Council confirmed it will temporarily lay off 350 employees

Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent

Accessing information about the spread of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland’s care homes has been very difficult.

The public wants to know what is happening, especially with older and more vulnerable members, but the various health agencies have been providing few verified facts.

Care home owners say they need to manage information about cases and deaths in a controlled, sensitive manner.

While this is understandable, it means the information tends to emerge first from concerned staff or families.

Image source, Getty Images

There are arguments about whether the health department should publish data on individual care homes.

But there have also been calls for more transparency about the spread of the virus, so that reports on it are as timely and accurate as possible.

Concerned families want - and deserve - to know about their loved ones living and working in these homes; there is no more important time for openness and clarity than during a pandemic.

Read more on this story here.

Exams board CCEA has launched a public consultation to help determine how this year’s how GCSE, AS and A-level results can be appealed.

Calculated grades provided by teachers and schools will be used to provide students with grades this year because of the pandemic.

“Because there will be no examination scripts to mark, it will therefore not be possible to have a review of the marking process post results as in previous years,” CCEA chief executive Justin Edwards says.

Image source, PA Media

He says education minister Peter Weir has asked CCEA “to develop an alternative appeals process which will address these exceptional circumstances".

The consultation runs until 21 May and is online at www.ccea.org.uk

Baby Jane was born in March weighing only 2lb 15oz.

Home now with her parents Lorraine and David Armstrong, Jane had to stay in Craigavon Hospital's neonatal unit for nine weeks.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions mum and dad could only visit for two hours each day.

However, thanks to an initiative started by advanced neonatal nurse practitioner Colm Darby, which utilises mobile technologies, families such as the Armstrongs are able to read to their child at bedtime.

The justice ministers on both sides of the Irish border have urged people not to be complacent in the fight to stop the spread of coronavirus.

NI Justice Minister Naomi Long and her counterpart in the Republic, Charlie Flanagan, also praised the cooperation between the PSNI and Garda Síochána as they work to ensure adherence to current restrictions on public life.

Mrs Long said anyone tempted to “set off on a day trip or perhaps to a holiday home” over the bank holiday weekend should think again.

“The message is simple - please stay at home unless your journey is essential, she says.

She adds: “Now is not the time for complacency if we are to win the battle against what is an invisible and particularly vicious enemy.”

Mr Flanagan says the level of public compliance has been “heartening".

There's been a lot of talk about a big increase in the number of cars out and about in Northern Ireland in recent weeks, but can it be backed up by evidence?

Figures from the Department of infrastructure show there were 58% fewer cars on the road network last week than for the same period last year.

Traffic analyst Wesley Johnson told the BBC's Evening Extra programme that there has been a 10% rise in recent weeks, but the level of traffic is still well down on what we would see normally.

Image source, Getty Images

He said: "It's true that traffic levels are increasing. Since the lockdown began they have been down 60-70% and they have gone up since then, but it hasn't gone up very much.

"If we look at the figures for last week it's sitting at 58% down compared to 65% a month earlier."

He also said Easter weekend wasn't as bad as predicted.

There had been concerns that more people would be using the road network as it is traditionally a busy time for travel. But that week actually saw the lowest travel rate since the lockdown began.

An American Irish dancer whose whose viral dances have lit up social media says she hopes to perform in the Republic of Ireland when the coronavirus pandemic is over.

Morgan Bullock, 20, from Virginia, received a plenty of positive support but also racist abuse and accusations of cultural appropriation after posting the clip, which sees here dancing to a hip hop song.

However, the video caught the attention of Rivedance creator Bill Wheland and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who said he hoped she could perform at St Patrick's Day in the Republic next year.

"If I can travel by then, that is definitely what I would like to do," she told the BBC's Talkback programme.

The video has proven to be light relief for many during lockdown, with almost 600,000 views on Twitter alone.

"There was some love and support but there were also negative comments that kept coming up on my feed, but the positivity far outweighs the negatives," she said.

"I'm not Irish and some people had a problem with what I was doing, especially because I was using Irish dance but not traditional music.

"But I have been doing Irish dancing for a decade now and I love the culture and the traditional background of it - I was just having a bit of fun.

"I always wanted to be a professional dancer and I will keep dancing for as long as I can, or as long as my joints can take it!"

Mervyn Jess
BBC News NI

Seventy-five years ago, villages, towns and cities across the UK resonated to the cheers of people out on the streets, celebrating what became known as Victory in Europe (VE) day.

On Friday, the marking of this historic moment will be somewhat more subdued.

Image source, Other

The coronavirus lockdown has put paid to plans for mass gatherings and big public celebrations.

Organisers have had to think fast on their feet about what to do instead to celebrate that momentous day.

Read more about what Belfast will be doing to celebrated VE day during lockdown.

Earlier we reported from the daily Stormont briefing that lockdown restrictions are to remain in place here.

The head of the British Medical Association in NI says it is vital the public continue to follow government guidelines.

Dr Tom Black says the guidelines are “informed by the best available data and research".

Image source, Getty Images

“All healthcare workers are extremely grateful to the public for their patience and support in adhering to social distancing guidelines so far,” he says.

“It has helped alleviate some of the huge pressure on us as we continue to work at the centre of this crisis caring for the most sick and vulnerable.”

Dr Black says the greatest risk to what has been achieved so far is complacency.

DUP MLA Alex Easton has apologised unreservedly after he was seen shopping online during a meeting of Stormont's health committee on the Covid-19 crisis.

The stream of Thursday morning's committee showed Alex Easton looking at a pair of boots on his laptop.

You can watch more on this story below.