Hospitality Ulster has called on the Executive to bring forward the dates for the indoor reopening of the hospitality sector.
Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said that due to high immunity levels, low prevalence levels and strong vaccine efficacy, the Executive should have "increased confidence" in pressing ahead with indoor hospitality reopening.
As it stands, May 24 is the indicative date set by the Executive for indoor hospitality's reopening. Hospitality Ulster have not specified an earlier date for when they think indoor hospitality should be reopened.
In a statement, Hospitality Ulster said: “Information presented by the Office of National Statistics which uses the percentage of people testing positive per test conducted to estimate real infection levels, have shown that fewer people are currently infected with Coronavirus in Northern Ireland (1 in 660) in comparison to either in England (1 in 610) or Scotland (1 in 560) who are pressing ahead in the reopening of their hospitality sectors."
The statement continued: “We are starting to see high immunity levels, very low prevalence levels and strong vaccine efficacy against transmission, therefore our Executive should have increasing confidence to make decisions to press ahead to bring forward dates for reopening here and accelerate the removal of restrictions.”
The appeal comes just days after many NI bars, cafes and restaurants reopened their outdoor areas under a cloud of confusion about regulations.
Last week, Hospitality Ulster accused the Executive of "causing chaos" with their outdoor regulations, which forced many businesses to halt their reopening plans at the last minute.
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