Stormont ministers have agreed a number of changes to current coronavirus restrictions.
During a four-hour Executive meeting on Monday, ministers also discussed concerns about the rising number of pupils who are currently off school due to Covid.
Sinn Féin has called for the Assembly to be recalled to discuss the situation with MLA Pat Sheehan saying there was a “lack of clear Covid-19 guidance for schools”.
Some of the new rules agreed by ministers that will come into effect at 5pm on Friday include:
- The number of people who can meet indoors will increase to 15 people from four households
- In hospitality venues, the requirement for table service will be removed and customers will be permitted to stand while consuming food and drink in outdoor settings
- Customers will also be permitted to take part in activities such as playing pool or darts or using gaming machines
- Dancing will again be allowed at weddings and civil partnership receptions and the requirement to purchase tickets in advance for live performances will be removed, as will the need for audience members to have allocated seats
First Minister Paul Givan said the announcement is "progress".
He added: “We have taken on board the health situation and the wider societal, community and economic information as well.
"Ultimately, I want to see more progress. I would have like to have seen progress around social distancing, moving that from regulation into guidance but that is something that will now form the discussions on Thursday.
“Other jurisdictions, England and Wales and Scotland, they are lifting their restrictions or have already lifted them.
"The Republic of Ireland has now set October 22 as their final date for all restrictions to go and we are moving to that position in Northern Ireland where ultimately we can have these issues dealt with through good advice, rather than having the law and enforcement.”
Junior Minister Declan Kearney said: "The reality is that we are still living with a very dangerous level of community infection.
"Covid-19 is very active within our community, we are not out of the woods yet. The levels of infection are much too high. We are still seeing very significant pressures on our health workers.
"We need to ensure that we have a very focused approach in ensuring that we are creating the most safe environment possible."
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