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Five more Covid-19 deaths in NI as First Minister speaks of move to ‘new normal in graduated way’

'We will be looking at some nuanced changes throughout that time and we'll await to hear what the Prime Minister has to say today'

Five more people have lost their lives due to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.

The total number of deaths here to date now stands at 435.

There have also been a further 41 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

The details were revealed on Sunday afternoon by the Department of Health.

It comes just hours after Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to make a statement.

He is expected to detail the process for easing the lockdown.

The Prime Minister has urged people to ‘Stay Alert: Control the Virus: Save Lives’.

He tweeted: “We can control the virus if we stay alert.”

Earlier, however, Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster spoke to Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday and outlined why the NI Executive was planning to move to a “new normal in a graduated way”.

She explained why at the end of last week it had been decided to extend the lockdown here for three more weeks and the advice remained to stay at home.

First Minister Foster told the programme: “We will be looking at some nuanced changes throughout that time and we’ll await to hear what the Prime Minister has to say today, but I think in terms of the Northern Ireland public it is important that we continue to protect them and make sure that this virus doesn’t start transmitting again in the community in a way that would cause damage in the community.

“At the beginning of this week we’re also bringing out a roadmap, a roadmap that will deal with the economic recovery, society’s recovery, and this whole issue of how we move to the new normal in a graduated way.”

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