The Public Health Agency identifies 16 clusters of Covid-19 infection in NI since the contact tracing scheme began
The number of deaths recorded in NIremains at 556, the Department of Health reported on Wednesday
Nine more people in NI tested positive for the virus
Republic of Ireland releases "green list" of 15 countries, excluding GB and the US, that travellers can visit without having to self-isolate when returning
The health minister warns people against taking "fake medicines" that claim to treat Covid-19
Thanks for your company today, that's the end of today's live coverage.
Hopefully you'll join us again tomorrow from 08:00 when we will bring you further updates on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in Northern Ireland and beyond.
Until then, have a great evening.
Here's a round-up of today's main developments:
Image source, PA MediaStormont’s health minister is warning people about the dangers of taking illegal medications that claim to treat coronavirus.
Robin Swann says the Department of Health’s Medicines Regulatory Group has been made aware that unlicensed anti-viral drugs have been illegally imported into Northern Ireland.
That means they are not authorised and have not undergone regulatory approvals required in the UK
Mr Swann says the “fake medicines” wrongly claim to effectively treat Covid-19.
“I urge the public not to be fooled by online offers for medical products. Some of these so called medicines could potentially do more harm than the virus. Be in no doubt, medicines sourced in this way present a real danger to those taking them,” Mr Swann adds.
Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride says people need “to be vigilant and to avoid putting their health at risk by using medication from an unknown source”.
“People should only take prescription medicines after an appropriate consultation with their GP or other healthcare professional and source them from a registered pharmacy,” Dr McBride says.
Maria McCann
BBC News NI
A new £10.5m scheme to support Northern Ireland's childcare sector will open for applications on Monday.
Stormont's Department of Education said the financial package will ensure as many providers as possible can reopen, or remain open, following the lockdown.
The Childcare Recovery Support scheme will be available for day care settings, playgroups and childminders. It will operate until 31 August and will be backdated to 1 July.
Image source, PA MediaAn earlier support package set up by Stormont was scrapped following criticism over how it was implemented.
It emerged only 5% of the £12m available had been allocated to providers and childminders.
A number of nursery settings that closed during the pandemic have since permanently closed.
Social distancing guidelines and limited space mean some day care settings haven't been able to operate at full capacity.
Hannah Richardson
BBC News education and social affairs reporter
Image source, PA MediaA majority of British children struggled to continue learning at home during the lockdown, a report says.
The Office for National Statistics research found that of the 52% who struggled, three-quarters of parents gave a lack of motivation as a reason.
The research, based on weekly household surveys between April and June, also found women's well-being was being more adversely affected than that of men.
It also showed wide disparities in what families were able to do.
The ONS researchers assessed nationally representative surveys of more than 12,000 people in Great Britain between 3 April and 7 June about their experiences of home-schooling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more on this story here
A significant number of people have not turned up for the Covid-19 tests they have been offered, the Republic of Ireland's Health Service Executive has said.
The HSE has said that there has been a 20% increase in GP referrals for Covid-19 tests.
Image source, PA MediaThe detail was included in the coronavirus update where chief executive Paul Reid also said the majority of cases are now in people under the age of 45.
The median age is now 33 with over 70% of the cases under 45 years of age.
Most reported cases are in Dublin, Kildare and Cork.
The Department of Health dashboard shows there have been nine new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5,868.
Three new cases have been recorded in the Causeway Coast and Glens area in the past 24 hours.
The council areas which have all seen one new case are Ards and North Down; Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon; Belfast; Lisburn and Castlereagh; Mid and East Antrim; and Newry, Mourne and Down.
The biggest increase in cases over the past seven days has occurred in Causeway Coast and Glens council area, with 25 cases.
Image source, ReutersDeaths linked to coronavirus in Scotland have fallen to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic, with just six registered last week.
New figures from the National Records of Scotland showed the number of deaths falling for the twelfth week in a row.
In the week to Sunday 19 July, the virus was mentioned on six death certificates.
At the peak of the outbreak in April, more than 600 deaths were being logged each week with links to Covid-19.
Louise Cullen
BBC News NI
The Public Health Agency has identified 16 clusters of Covid-19 infection in Northern Ireland since the contact tracing scheme went live in late May.
The agency said 133 cases have been identified and that six clusters had more than five cases associated with them.
Clusters are defined as two or more laboratory test-confirmed cases of Covid-19 among individuals associated with a key setting. A key setting is a workplace, educational establishment or similar setting.
Because transmission risk is highest within a household, linked cases within one house are not reported as clusters.
Image source, ReutersThe agency said clusters are to be expected as we move through the pandemic, and that the Test, Trace and Protect programme is in place to ensure people are tested when they have symptoms and their contacts traced quickly.
Those contacts can then isolate to prevent further spread.
The PHA said it won’t go into the detail of every incident that emerges “as this could lead to people being identified, create stigma and focus attention on individuals, families or groups, and therefore deter others with symptoms coming forward to be tested”.
Any clusters with increasing numbers, complexity or sensitive issues are looked at by the Health Protection Team.
If there is an increased risk to public health, the organisation says the public will be informed.
No further coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.
Their death toll remains at 556 people.
A further nine people tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday.
Image source, PA MediaReigning Pro14 champions Leinster will meet Munster on 22 August when the competition resumes following a five month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ulster will play Connacht at the Aviva Stadium a day later, with the northern province needing two points to book their place in the semi-finals.
The following weekend will see Leinster play Ulster with Munster meeting Connacht.
The season will be completed over four weeks, with the final on 12 September.
The semi-finals will be at Dublin's Aviva Stadium or Murrayfield on 4/5/6 of September.
All matches are set to be behind closed doors unless respective government advice changes.
Read the story here.
Shane Harrison
BBC NI Dublin correspondent
Taoiseach Mícheál Martin has denied there is confusion in his government’s approach to foreign travel and Covid-19.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Martin said his administration’s clear message was to “people to holiday at home this year”, but that there are 15 countries people travelling from won’t have to restrict their movements when they arrive in Ireland.
Image source, ReutersSinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the government of sowing “absolute confusion” in its decision last night to allow a "green list" of countries people travelling from didn’t have to self-isolate.
She described that as a “reckless policy” with “no checks and balances”.
Mr Martin said she was at odds with herself because Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland Executive signed off on an agreement “to open up the island to 59 countries”.
“We’re taking a much more conservative approach here,” he added.
The Mater hospital in Dublin has confirmed that a doctor who worked at the hospital has died after contracting Covid-19, RTÉ reports, external.
In a statement issued this morning, the hospital said Dr Syed Waqqar Ali passed away after spending three months in ICU being cared for diligently and attentively by his colleagues at the hospital.
It said Dr Shah was a frontline healthcare worker who provided selfless emergency care to Covid-19 patients at a number of hospitals, as a locum during the pandemic.
He was due to begin a shift at the Mater in April when he felt unwell, the statement continues. He asked to be seen as a patient and was admitted immediately with Covid-19.
The Mater said Dr Shah's colleagues remember him as a hardworking and diligent doctor with a humble and down to earth personality.
Image source, PA MediaCovid-19 has had an impact on nearly all aspects of life, including people's work.
The world of work is changing - and some sectors appear to be in a much stronger position than others.
According to the latest jobs market report from employment website CV-Library, the number of job vacancies in the UK fell by 62.7% in the second quarter of 2020.
And for those jobs that are being advertised, competition is stiff, with the average application-to-job ratio rising by 84%.
The report is the latest in a series of snapshots trying to predict - by looking at online job vacancies - where workplace opportunities might be increasing or shrinking.
So, with more people battling it out for jobs, which industries are actually hiring staff? And which face a more uncertain future?
Read more here.
Earlier we told you about seven-year-old Jacob McLaughlin from Londonderry.
He is deaf and his mum Julie says that as face coverings become more prevalent here, it’ll make some aspects of communicating more challenging for him.
Alasdair O’Hara from the National Deaf Children’s Society says while the wearing of masks is a public health decision they will “make it difficult for deaf people”.
“Lip reading becomes impossible, expressions are harder to read, voices are muffled,” he says.
Image source, ReutersHe wants clear face masks to become more widely available.
“One of the things we are pushing for at the moment is for the executive to commission clear PPE for use within health settings.
“Clear face masks are a significant improvement. But they are not the only answer. You also have to remember to be deaf aware, take a bit more time, make sure you speak clearly, don’t give up, write it down, use basic deaf awareness tips as well,” he says.
In the UK, eight charities have written to NHS bosses calling for clear masks to be commissioned, external, warning of "potentially dangerous situations" arising from communication problems.
The Republic's Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said that while a "green list" of countries has been published, the safest thing for people to do is to holiday at home this year.
Last night, the Irish government published the list of 15 countries where the travel advice will be to take normal precautions and people arriving to Ireland from these countries will not have to restrict their movements for 14 days.
The countries are Malta, Finland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece, Greenland, Gibraltar, Monaco and San Marino.
All have a similar or lower level of Covid-19 to Ireland.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Coveney said Ireland remains slow to open up to international travel, but there have been no cases of Covid-19 brought into Ireland from these countries.
He said that 50,000 people a week are leaving Ireland and there is an obligation to give them travel advice based on risk.
The minister said "we would rather they were not [leaving], but they are".
Image source, kingfisherSales of paint, wallpaper, plants and compost have soared during lockdown, the owner of B&Q and Screwfix has said.
Kingfisher said people had been doing more DIY than usual, as like-for-like sales jumped by 21.6% in the three months to 18 July.
Store re-openings also boosted revenue, while online sales more than tripled.
Kingfisher's UK stores, as well as those in France, were closed in mid-March due to lockdown measures to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Although B&Q's UK stores only started reopening in late April, online sales continued to see a huge increase, it said.
The retailer made click-and-collect and home delivery options available and the group saw online sales surge more than 200% in both May and June.
Read more here
Jacob McLaughlin was just four months old when he was fitted with his first hearing aids.
He’s now seven. His mum Julie says the pandemic and lockdown have been hugely challenging for deaf children like him.
And with face coverings set to become part of the new normal, she tells BBC Radio Foyle fresh challenges lie ahead.
Image source, McLaughlin family“Communication is a massive thing, facial expressions are very important for deaf people, lip patterns, the signs for certain words are the same - the only difference being the lip patterns that you make.
"With a mask the lip patterns do not come across."
She says Jacob, who also lives with autism, is dependent on a lot of non-verbal communication.
“He can be quite literal, if he doesn’t see your facial expressions to know you are joking or being sarcastic it is kind of lost in translation,” she adds.
The Londonderry mum says without being able to lip read a “massive part of what Jacob relies on for communication” will be taken away.
The Irish foreign minister has said that while a "green list" of countries has been published it is still safest to "holiday at home".
Simon Coveney said that 50,000 people a week were leaving the country.
He said he had an obligation to give guidance on "the risk attached to that travel".
The Irish government previously released a list of 15 countries travellers can go to and not self-isolate on their return.
Image source, PA MediaIt currently excludes Great Britain and the US.
The list, which is reviewed every fortnight, is Malta, Finland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Slovakia, Greece, Greenland, Gibraltar, Monaco and San Marino.
The 15 countries have an infection rate of five per 100,000 population, or lower, over the last 14 days. Ireland is currently at 4.9.
The advice to avoid non-essential travel applies to all other countries.
Read the story in full here
Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts has said that making it mandatory for shoppers to wear face coverings in Northern Ireland would present major challenges to retailers.
Mr Roberts said it was "by no means guaranteed" that the executive will decide to make masks compulsory.
Last week, it was reported that Health Minister Robin Swann would bring a proposal to the executive to make face masks mandatory in Northern Ireland's shops.
Wearing a face covering in shops will be mandatory in England from 24 July, but in Northern Ireland it is only compulsory on public transport; going to hospitals or visiting care homes.
The move is supported by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), who said shop workers in Northern Ireland want face coverings to be mandatory in stores.
Image source, EPAHowever Mr Roberts said the such a move could discourage shoppers and would be tough for retailers to enforce.
"If they come to a mandatory position then we have some big challenges there – firstly who enforces this.
"What we need to ensure is that we don't have a position where people feel uncomfortable going back into town centres, uncomfortable going into shops.
"Our members have spent millions and millions of pounds ensuring that their shops are safe places for staff and customers and will continue to do that.
"We know that the opinion of shoppers is divided – some people think it’s a good thing, some think it’s a bad thing."
He added: "Instead of going down this route of forcing people, slapping fines on them, why don’t we look at a different approach, a much wider approach which is equally effective, which gets more people voluntarily wearing masks if they want to, but also gets rejuvenation of our high street."
