Tony O’Riley-
Northern Ireland has increased coronavirus fines, with fixed penalty notices beginning at £200.
Stormont has also extended the areas where a face covering must be worn in its fight against Covid -19.
Under the new rules, three other offences will be punishable on conviction by a fine of up to £10,000, or attract a fixed penalty notice starting at £1,000 and going up to maximum of £10,000. The first is for business that fail to close under the regulations.
Two other new offences are being introduced – breaching the early closing requirements for hospitality and not implementing measures to maintain social distancing.
It follows about 4,674 new cases of the virus have been confirmed in the region in the last week, while 120 people with Covid-19 are being cared for in hospital, 15 of which are in intensive care, and 11 on ventilators.
Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the stringent rules are a response to the high current rate, and in an effort to reduce the admissions to hospitals, which they fear could exceed the first wave in just two to three weeks’ time.
“We now have a very narrow window to get on top of the situation,” she said.
The leaders stressed that they will need further money from the Treasury to support people and businesses before considering harsher restrictions.
Mrs Foster said they have requested a phone call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss the situation in Northern Ireland.
“We had a summer where the virus was at a low ebb and people were coming together, and there were no consequences as a result of that,” she said.
“But unfortunately the virus has started to grow again and people are still coming together in large numbers, they’re not socially distancing, they are not taking the very basic precautions and as a result of that unfortunately we find ourselves in this position.”
Earlier today, MPs from the Midlands and northern England called for more detail on possible plans to close restaurants and pubs in areas worst-hit by coronavirus.
They met ministers earlier, with some venting frustration about potential restrictions appearing in newspapers before being announced in Parliament.
A tiered system of measures could be introduced next Wednesday, in an effort to stall rising infection rates.
The government said it was trying to create “greater consistency on rules