AQW 15129/17-22


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 22/02/2021
Answered On Date: 18/05/2021
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail the criteria and scientific rationale for businesses to remain open to the public for (i) normal, in-store shopping; and (ii) click and collect shopping.


Answer:
On 15 April 2021 the Executive agreed that from 30 April all retail businesses were permitted to reopen. Any businesses that are permitted to reopen are subject to the requirement to operate safely and to follow health and safety law and guidance and to take measures to keep staff and customers safe.
On 2 March 2021 the Executive published its planned pathway out of the current COVID-19 restrictions. The Pathway is supported by a revised process for a 4-week Executive review cycle. The new process also permits a more urgent consideration of proposals from Departments deemed to have urgent or compelling reasons to fall outside the four week review process.
In this new process, the management of the changes to the restrictions regulations moved to the Executive Office (TEO).
TEO will now hold the lead responsibility and operational management of the process leading to Executive decisions on the ongoing need for restrictions and the requirement to amend the regulations.
This responsibility includes receiving and managing all proposals from Executive departments, management of the decision making process and facilitating consultation with departments on the drafting of amendment regulations. This work is supported by a Cross-Departmental Working Group, chaired by the Director of the TEO COVID-19 Taskforce team with membership from all 9 Departments and key stakeholders, including local government and PSNI.
The Executive, when making decisions on restrictions, takes into account the scientific and medical evidence and also the impacts of the restrictions on the economy and society. The Executive weighs up the totality of the effect each restriction can have in combination with other restrictions in reducing the rate of infections of COVID-19. It is not always possible to disaggregate the precise impact on the rate of transmission of the virus in the community for each of the individual restrictions on their own.
Scientific evidence used by the Executive for decision making purposes is now publically available: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/covid-19-scientific-evidence