It is understood that Health Minister Health Minister Robin Swann is awaiting legal advice on the removal of further Covid-19 restrictions in Northern Ireland.

At the time of going to press there was no indication if the Minister will remove the restrictions as the advice was still being sought.

Mr Swann has said the resignation of DUP First Minister Paul Givan had removed the opportunity for the Executive to discuss the removal of further Covid-19 restrictions in Northern Ireland.

Speaking on Monday, The Health Minister said: “I’m not prepared to allow a failure of politics to get in the way of lifting now unnecessary restrictions.

“I can confirm it was my intention to go to the Executive this week to advocate a significant removal of Covid restrictions. I am now seeking that legal guidance on how I myself can replace the bulk of the remaining restrictions, if not all of them, with clear guidance and advice.

“When we had an Executive, ministers always said we wouldn’t retain restrictions for a day longer than necessary, so that same logic should still apply.”

Robin Swann said that removing remaining Covid restrictions did not mean a “free for all”.

He said: “While we must move forward carefully, we can’t stay locked in emergency restrictions forever. We need to start getting normal back. That means moving cautiously out of the legal phase of the Covid response.

“I hope this will be a permanent decision. I am persuaded that having reviewed the data and consulted with senior medics and scientists within my department, the time to take this step is this week.”

The Executive was set to review the regulations today (Thursday) prior to the resignation of the First Minister.

Remaining Covid measures in Northern Ireland include the legal duty on retail to take reasonable measures to reduce the risk of transmission and a legal requirement to wear face coverings and the associated duty on businesses to take reasonable measures to ensure compliance.

The number of Covid patients in South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) remains at 20 patients for a second consecutive week. There is one Covid patient in ICU.

The latest data from the Department of Health released yesterday, shows that SWAH’s bed capacity stands at 113.9 per cent.

Locally, the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area recorded 157 new Covid-19 cases within the past 24 hours, bringing the total amount of cases locally to 34,665 people.

From February 2 to February 8, there were 560 positive Covid-19 cases recorded in the area’s postal districts, with the BT74 area recording 160 cases; BT92 seeing 145; BT93 seeing 86; and BT94 seeing 169. The seven-day positive cases rate per 100,000 people in the council area was 891 , which equates to 1,045 positive cases.

There were two Covid 19-related deaths recorded in the previous 24 hours across Northern Ireland, according to Wednesday’s report, bringing the total amount of Covid-19 deaths to 3,136 people. Locally, according to the latest data, the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area remained at 142 deaths.