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It's time for a recap of events on another busy day in Northern Ireland's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

• The Executive confirmed the easing of a number of lockdown restrictions will take effect on Monday.
• The measures included allowing people who have been shielding to go outdoors.
• First Minister Arlene Foster warned relaxing restrictions here does not mean the public can lose their “sense of perspective” about coronavirus
• One more Covid-19 related death in Northern Ireland was recorded by the department on Thursday, bringing its death toll to 535.
• A total of 39,904 people died in the UK with the virus - an increase of 176 on Wednesday.
• Meanwhile the Department of Health in the Republic announced a further five deaths, bringing the overall death toll there to 1,664.
• Catholic funeral services and Requiem Masses across the diocese of Down and Connor are to resume with immediate effect with restrictions.
• NI’s commissioner for older people expressed concern about the lack of social contact in care homes.
• The Public Health Agency warned people who take part in street protests were putting themselves and others "at risk" from Covid-19.

Derry City and Strabane District Council has thanked the hundreds of local volunteers, who have stepped up and helped "the most vulnerable" in their local community during the coronavirus pandemic.

As moves are made to unlock the economy, concerns have been raised about access to childcare.

The head of the NI Childminding Association said she believes childcare has been an afterthought during the pandemic.

Patricia Lewsley-Mooney said it was disappointing childcare wasn't mentioned in the five-step plan on the road to recovery.

Under Stormont's proposals to get business moving again, no dates have been given for providers.

"For me, the childcare sector and particularly childminders, are a lynch pin to getting the economy back up and running," Ms Lewsley-Mooney told BBC Newsline.

Donegal football boss Declan Bonner is convinced the inter-county championships will take place this year and that reduced numbers of spectators will be able to watch the games.

The GAA is expected to unveil its roadmap for the return to action over the next few days.

Bonner wonders whether specific dates will be mentioned in the document but remains optimistic.

Image source, inpho

"I think there will be an Ulster Championship," Bonner told BBC Sport.

"I think it will be open to spectators - I'm convinced about that - in a reduced capacity rather than a behind-closed-doors scenario.

"Beyond the Ulster Championship, I'm presuming the GAA will want to complete the season if at all possible within the calendar year.

"Every calendar year is pretty full from January onwards and 2021 is going to be no different but if it goes into 2021, so be it."

Read more here

GPs here are likely to face a “big backlog” of people with more advanced stages of diseases like cancer when NI emerges from the pandemic, a Londonderry doctor warns.

“We are a bit worried about the fact that clinics are decreasing, the ordinary clinics, the non-coronavirus clinics are decreasing in use at the moment,” Dr Joe McEvoy tells BBC Radio Foyle’s Mark Patterson Show.

Image source, PA Media

He says many GPs are unable to carry out “routine activity” because the pandemic means they are operating restricted services at their practices.

“There is a big worry that a lot of cancers and long term conditions are not being managed at the moment.”

Dr McEvoy says “we are going to have a big backlog of people at a more advanced stage of disease than maybe they would have been “

There’s been a slight increase in the coronavirus reproduction rate in the Republic of Ireland, the Irish government’s minister for health has said.

Speaking in the Dáil ( Irish parliament) Simon Harris said the most recent data suggests the r number - the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to - is now between 0.4 and 0.7.

Image source, PA Media

Mr Harris said that the current r number “means we are still suppressing the growth of the virus.”

If the reproduction number is higher than one, then the number of cases increases exponentially.

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Catholic funeral services and Requiem Masses across the diocese of Down and Connor will resume with immediate effect, Bishop Noel Treanor has said.

Churches were closed in March to help stop the spread of corononavirus,

In a statement issued this evening, Bishop Treanor said "the greatest cross" had been carried by those bereaved in recent months.

He said they were "unable to observe the rites and rituals associated with mourning that are so much part of our faith and culture".

With the gradual decline in the number of Covid-19 related deaths, he said the time was now right to ease the restrictions.

The number of mourners will be limited to 10 and they will have to observe social distancing regulations.

He said it may be necessary to hold some funeral services in neighbouring parishes as a number of clergy continue to shield or self-isolate.

Bishop Treanor said guidance would be issued to couples wishing to marry after the Stormont Executive confirmed small outdoor weddings may take place from Monday.

The Republic of Ireland has recorded an additional five Covid-19 related deaths, the Department of Health in Dublin has said.

There have now been a total of 1,664 coronavirus-related deaths in the Republic.

There were a further 38 confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Ireland to 25,142.

The health minister says the governments in NI and the Republic are working on ways to cut down on travellers arriving in either jurisdiction and crossing the border without making that travel known.

Under the proposed regulations, travellers from outside the UK will have to self-isolate on arrival for two weeks.

"We are working very closely with the Irish authorities to make sure that anyone who lands in Northern Ireland or the Republic does take their responsibilities very seriously.

"We've an electronic form that will be filled out at the point of arrival no matter where you land or arrive on this island.

"The Irish Republic is working at this moment on a paper form so there will be a sharing of information that will develop under our current memorandum of understanding.

"The regulations and the restrictions are there for your point of destination and where you live, not basically where you arrive, so the responsibility is actually on the individual on their final destination rather than their landing point.

"The work is near enough complete, it should be in place by 8 June when these regulations actually come in as well and there has been quite a considerable bit of engagement north and south as well as east and west on how this is actually going to operate."

After Grant Shapps announced that face coverings on public transport in England will be mandatory from 15 June, Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon says she’ll hold discussions tonight about the situation in NI.

In a tweet she said she will meet Justice Minister Naomi Long and Chief Scientific Adviser Prof Ian Young about options “to protect operators and passengers”.

Ms Mallon added that she will meet Translink, NI’s public transport operator, along with unions, on Friday to agree a way forward.

“We need to get this right together for all,” she said.

In Northern Ireland, face coverings are recommended for people using public transport or if entering shops where social distancing is not possible, but it is not mandatory.

The deputy first minister also said the meeting of family members indoors remains under consideration but the Executive is not convinced it is yet safe to do so.

"As quickly as we can get there, we will get there and we'll be delighted the day that we can stand on this platform and we can actually tell people that they can meet their family indoors," Michelle O'Neill said.

"Unfortunately, the risk is still too great, the virus-spread indoors is still too great, so we have to be cautious.

"We ask people to bear with us as we keep trying to work our way through this, we are still in the pandemic and we have to work our way through this cautiously."

Earlier the executive here agreed to ease a raft of lockdown measures.

Arlene Foster is asking the public to “be careful in their enthusiasm” when the measures come in on Monday.

“There is a palpable sense of relief out there that we are slowly but surely, emerging from lockdown,” she said at today’s daily briefing.

She said the public cannot lose their “sense of perspective because Covid-19 is still claiming lives in Northern Ireland".

Mrs Foster said it is the public’s “selflessness and communal spirit that has driven down the level of transmission”.

Health Minister Robin Swann says testing continues to be ramped up in response to the virus.

"In the past 24 hours we're reporting 1,856 completed tests and a further 903 tests taken as part of the national testing program," he said.

"That combined figure of 2,759 tests is the highest daily combined figure so far.

"In total there have been 93,000 tests so far in Northern Ireland and testing is continuing in our care homes with 7,255 residents tested and almost 8.500 staff.

"Our testing outlets continue to evolve because I can also confirm that so far there have been a further 1,500 home testing kits distributed from the national testing program and that number is likely to increase significantly over the coming weeks as more symptomatic members of the public request kits.

"Today is an important day for Northern Ireland - it's a day where we take one small step towards the freedom that we once took for granted."

Arlene Foster has warned about the dangers of mass gatherings while the coronavirus pandemic continues.

She told today’s daily briefing that “while I completely understand the desire of people to protest yesterday in Belfast City Hall, about the horrific death of George Floyd, they need to think very carefully about whether there are other, safer ways to protest”.

Image source, pacemaker

Mrs Foster said alternatives that “respect the need for social distancing and avoid risking participants’ lives” need to be found.

“Many have cancelled mass gatherings, such as the 12th of July for very good reasons.

“People have been denied the opportunity to attend the funerals of their family, friends and relatives.

“Mass gatherings, such as we saw yesterday, are dangerous, however laudable the cause may be,” she said.

First Minister Arlene Foster has said the definition of a key worker for childcare purposes will change from 8 June.

Speaking at the daily Stormont briefing, Mrs Foster said it is part of “proposals to align childcare as closely as possible to the executive's return to work decision-making and restart planning for schools”.

“The definition of a key worker used for childcare purposes will be brought into line with the key worker definition for schools,” she said.

The deputy first minister tells the daily briefing she understands the strength of emotion George Floyd's death has stirred, but asked people to remember the potentially lethal nature of coronavirus.

It comes after yesterday's protest in front of Belfast City Hall.

Michelle O'Neill said: "People's behaviour must reflect the enormous threat posed by the virus which is still very, very real.

"I stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter campaign and I'm also very conscious that many people out there in the public want to show their solidarity to the campaign.

"But I would ask people here locally to do that responsibly, we are still in the middle of a pandemic.

"Please find other ways to express your solidarity, let's do things online, let's find other ways to express our feelings right now.

"We all have a responsibility to call out racism and intolerance and discrimination and we'll all continue to do that but as we work our way through this pandemic, please help keep people safe and continue to save lives."

The Intensive Care Unit at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry has announced it has discharged the last of their coronavirus patients.

In a tweet, the Western Trust said that all of those discharged had "100% recovered".

Stay tuned - First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill should be appearing in a few minutes.

We expect the approval of further lockdown-easing measures in Northern Ireland will be top of the agenda. To watch live, hit the play button at the top of this page.