| Dear reader, The economic damage done to the economy by the Covid-19 pandemic was underlined in stark terms once again on Tuesday. First, Marks and Spencer, the retail giant, announced that it is shedding 7,000 jobs across the UK. The company has not yet revealed whether any of its 20 Northern Ireland stores will be affected, but it seems inevitable that its workforce here will be impacted. M&S employs 2,800 people in the Province. Later on Tuesday, the aircraft manufacturer Bombardier revealed that almost 100 jobs are to go at its Belfast plant. It is only two months since the firm announced that 600 jobs will be lost at the plant in the east of the city. This news is another devastating blow for the remaining workers. Meanwhile, the Department of Health has confirmed that one more person who tested positive for Covid-19 has died in Northern Ireland. This brings the death tally related to the virus here to 559. In addition, a further 42 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours in Northern Ireland. Fourteen of the new cases were diagnosed in Belfast with nine in Mid and East Antrim.
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