Dear reader

Northern Ireland reached an unfortunate milestone on Tuesday as the number of recorded deaths linked to Covid-19 here passed the 400 mark. 

With 17 new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, the total number of deaths recorded by the Department  of Health here is now 404. 

For those families struggling at home while trying to educate their children, there was a blow on Tuesday as teaching unions warned against the reopening of schools. 

Even though the possibility of Welsh schools reopening in June has been put forward and Nicola Sturgeon has talked about a similar opportunity in Scotland, the unions have warned of a ‘catastrophic surge’ in new coronavirus cases if schools reopen too early. 

There was a real sense of sadness as news was released about the death of the hugely-respected SDLP MLA John Dallat. The East Londonderry representative had been fighting a battle against cancer and had not been to Stormont in recent weeks. 

Stay safe,

Alistair Bushe

Editor

Here are today’s headlines:

• Another 17 deaths have been reported of people in NI with COVID-19
  The latest figures from the Department of Health reveal that there have been 404 deaths reported up to 9.30am on May 5.
  They say there were six deaths reported and occurring within the current reporting period.
  Meanwhile there were 11 reported not occurring within current period
  
  
• Care home workers who contract the coronavirus are only being offered the minimum sick pay legally required by the government, a trade union has said
  Unison regional secretary Patricia McKeown said statutory sick pay — just under £96 per week before tax — is the “order of the day” in Northern Ireland’s care homes.
  This comes after it was revealed last week that more people are now dying from coronavirus in care homes than in hospitals.
  Figures published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency on Friday showed that, in the most recent week for which data is available, 58% of coronavirus deaths occurred in care homes compared to 37% for hospitals.
  
  
• The £700million investment package agreed by The Executive will be crucial in helping to rebuild the economy after the Coronavirus emergency
  The funding has been announced for infrastructure, regeneration and tourism projects across Northern Ireland and includes £562million match funding for City and Growth Deals and £55million for the Inclusive Future Fund.
  First Minister Arlene Foster said: “The crisis imposed upon us by Coronavirus has had devastating consequences across our society and upended the economy.
  
  
• It is good news that construction is edging its way back to work
  This is the assessment of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
  Its director Gavin McGuire told this newspaper that it had issued guidance on working while maintaining social distancing.
  And the building firm Hagan Homes told us that it is resuming construction on eight of its construction sites.
  This is all excellent news. These businesses and their industry representatives are to be congratulated on their can-do spirit, amid a deeply traumatic time for many private enterprises in the sector, which have been staring into the abyss.

Self-employed invited to get ready to make their claims for coronavirus (COVID-19) support