plan to help economic recovery following the pandemic. 2 april – figures show the number of covid-related deaths has risen slightly after falling for eight consecutive weeks, with 19 death certificates mentioning the virus in the week ending 26 march. health minister robin swann urges people to stay safe over the weekend, as the "stay at home" message remains despite the lifting of some restrictions. 6 april – first minister arlene foster says she is hopeful that dates for the reopening of hairdressers and non-essential retail will be confirmed at the next meeting of the executive. 7 april – northern ireland records another day without any further covid-related deaths. 8 april – people in northern ireland aged 40–44 are invited to book their covid vaccinations. 10 april – as the department of health announces that the milestone of a million vaccinations has been reached in northern ireland, health minister robin swann describes it as "a landmark" and urges people to remember "how serious the situation was at the turn of the year". 12 april – pupils from all year groups return to face-to-face teaching. the "stay at home" message is relaxed and replaced with a "stay local" message. ten people from two households can meet in a private garden and up to 15 people are allowed to take part in sports training together. outdoor retail, such as garden centres and car washes, reopen along with non-essential retailers resuming click and collect services. belfast's nightingale hospital, based at the city hospital, is stood down again. 13 april – northern ireland reports another day without any covid-related deaths. health minister robin swann tells the northern ireland assembly it could take ten years to clear northern ireland's backlog of hospital waiting lists unless there is significant investment from the executive. 14 april – health minister robin swann says the "scales are tipping" in favour of an acceleration of lifting covid rules. 15 april – stormont gives the go-ahead for outdoor hospitality, gyms and non-essential retail to reopen on 30 april, and for indoor hospitality to reopen on 24 may. 16 april – northern ireland's hotel quarantine rules come into effect, requiring passengers arriving from "red list" countries to go into quarantine. 18 april – northern ireland records another day with no further covid related deaths. 19 april – vaccination appointments are made available to a limited number of adults aged 35–39. 21 april – patricia donnelly, who leads northern ireland's vaccine programme, confirms "pop up" vaccination centres are to be established in areas where take up of the vaccine is low. 22 april – figures produced by the trussell trust, the uk's largest food bank charity, show that 31,000 food parcels were provided to children in northern ireland between april 2020 and march 2021. on the eve of the further easing of covid restrictions, first minister arlene foster says the process will move faster if possible, but this will depend on the effect of those relaxations. 23 april – close contact services such as hairdressers are reopened, while driving tests can resume. outdoor visitor attractions reopen. 25 april – northern ireland records another day with no further covid related deaths. 26 april – all people in northern ireland aged 35–39 can now book a vaccine. 27 april – economists at the ey consultancy firm predict northern ireland's economy will grown by up to 6% in 2021. 28 april – ahead of the reopening of outdoor hospitality in northern ireland, the regulations surrounding the reopening of venues are described as being chaotic by hospitality ulster, particularly as some venues have been told they cannot reopen unless their seating areas adhere to the regulations. 29 april – northern ireland records another day with no further covid related deaths. hospitality ulster says the majority of venues scheduled to reopen for outdoor hospitality have failed covid safety checks. 30 april – non-essential retail, bars, cafes, gyms and swimming pools are reopened in the latest easing of coronavirus restrictions for northern ireland. all people in northern ireland aged 30–34 can now book a vaccine. may 2021 1 may – a bar in fintona, county tyrone is fined £1,000 for breaching covid rules after police broke up a gathering of 150 people. a police officer was also punched and knocked unconscious during the course of inspecting the premises, and one teenager was later charged with assaulting a police officer in relation to the incident. 3 may – northern ireland records another day with no further covid related deaths. 4 may – health minister robin swann confirms changes to hospital and care home settings from friday 7 may; hospital patients can have up to two visitors a day from two separate households, while care home residents can have two one-hour visits per week from two people. 5 may – northern ireland records another day without any covid related deaths. figures show that car sales increased by an annual rate of 14,000% in april 2021 compared to the same month in 2020. the housing executive has reported a 150% increase in the number of people seeking emergency accommodation during 2020. 6 may – seven cases of the indian variant of covid-19 are discovered in northern ireland. 7 may – a uk-wide decision to offer adults under 40 an alternative to the oxford–astrazeneca vaccine could delay northern ireland's vaccination programme, but people are being urged to continue coming forward. under 40s will be offered the pfizer–biontech vaccine, but health officials say the decision to do so is not connected to any new information regarding the blood clot risk associated with the oxford vaccine, but a change in the risk/benefit to younger people by falling covid levels. 8 may – northern ireland records another day without any covid related deaths. with travel restrictions set to be relaxed in england, belfast international airport and three ferry companies serving northern ireland call for the lifting of restrictions between the uk and ireland. 9 may – northern ireland records another day without any covid related deaths. 10 may – northern ireland records another day without any covid related deaths. 11 may – derry city and strabane district council confirms the clipper round the world yacht race will return to derry in 2022. 12 may – deputy first minister michelle o'neill says northern ireland is winning its fight against covid and that it is hoped there can soon be a further easing of restrictions. 13 may – the executive announces further easing of restrictions planned to come into force from 24 may, including allowing non essential travel to northern ireland from other parts of the common travel area, allowing spectators to attend sporting events, and allowing for the reopening of libraries and museums. 15 may – the northern ireland tourism alliance and abta urge stormont to rethink changes to travel arrangements for people arriving from the common travel area from 24 may, describing them as "unmanageable". from that date travellers from the common travel area will not be required to isolate, but must provide a lateral flow covid test upon departure and at later dates. after images of glasgow rangers fans celebrating appear on social media following the club's triumph in the 2020–21 scottish premiership, police warn people not to gather in the shankill road area of belfast. 16 may – northern ireland records two consecutive days without any covid related deaths. 18 may – the number of people in northern ireland to receive their first covid vaccine passes one million, meaning roughly 69% of the population have been vaccinated with their first dose. 20 may – stormont gives the go-ahead for indoor hospitality to reopen from monday 24 may, when six people from two separate households will be permitted to meet up indoors. a traffic lights system for overseas travel will also begin on the same day. people aged 25–29 become eligible for their first covid vaccination. the northern ireland executive has allocated £316m for covid recovery. a letter emerges sent to stormont by psni chief constable simon byrne on 17 april 2020 in which he warns that public confidence in the police could be undermined by asking them to enforce lockdown restrictions. 21 may – the irish government says it is "keeping an interest" in including northern ireland residents who hold irish passports in an eu covid certificate scheme. 24 may – indoor hospitality is permitted to reopen, while six people from two separate households can meet up indoors again. 27 may – covid vaccinations are opened to everyone aged 18 and over in northern ireland, making it the first part of the uk to offer the vaccine to all adults. the northern ireland executive agrees to scrap its advice for travellers to the common travel area following criticism from the tourism sector. health minister robin swann warns that the size of northern ireland's hospital waiting lists threatens to undermine the principle of a free health service as figures show 335,000 people are waiting for a consultant-led appointment. 29 may – the latest health figures show that covid rates have fallen slightly in northern ireland. they are fairly low in northern ireland, but remain above those for england and wales. 31 may – about 100 military personnel who were deployed to help at the vaccination centre established in belfast's sse arena withdraw after ending their duties there. june 2021 1 june – the grand orange lodge of ireland confirms the twelfth of july parades will go ahead for 2021. 2 june – health minister robin swann tells ulster unionist assembly members the health service is in "big trouble" and requires "unprecedented collective action from the executive". fourteen people reported to the public prosecution service for northern ireland over their participation in black lives matter demonstrations in 2020 will not face prosecution it is confirmed. 4 june – as many as 2,500 people have changed their second covid vaccinations in the past seven to ten days, prompting a warning that doing so threatens to jeopardise the vaccination programme. second vaccination appointments are usually generated when a first appointment is booked, but people have been rearranging their second appointments through fear about the indian variant. people in parts of kilkeel, county down are being asked to volunteer for covid testing after a small cluster of indian variant covid cases were found there. 5 june – three testing centres are opened in kilkeel amid concerns about indian covid. 6 june – the bbc reports that testing for indian variant covid in kilkeel has identified no more than five cases. the royal black institution cancels the annual sham fight at scarva in county down for the second year in a row. 7 june – fifteen cases of covid have been discovered through surge testing in kilkeel, nine of which are believed to be indian variant covid. 8 june – northern ireland records another day without any covid related deaths. 9 june – bbc news reports that the number of indian variant covid cases in ireland has doubled to 80. 10 june – in a document from the department of health to the northern ireland executive, health minister robin swann warns "normality, as we knew it in 2019, is still some way off". the gap between first and second covid vaccines is reduced from 10 to 12 weeks to eight weeks, the department of health confirms. a series of concerts planned by van morrison at belfast's europa hotel are cancelled due to covid restrictions. the hotel had hoped to have them classed as trial events for the return of large gatherings. 13 june – dr frances o'hagan, a gp in northern ireland, says people need to "look over shoulders" as cases of indian variant covid rise. 15 june – health minister robin swann sets out a five-year roadmap to clear hospital waiting lists by march 2026. 16 june – the latest figures indicate the number of possible or confirmed cases of indian variant covid stand at 254, a rise from 111 the previous week. infrastructure minister nichola mallon confirms that full mot testing will return on 26 july. 17 june – plans to ease restrictions in northern ireland are pushed back to 5 july. paul givan succeeds arlene foster as first minister of northern ireland. 18 june – there have been 906 new covid cases recorded for northern