Covid-19: NI health and social care workers to get £500 payment
By Jayne McCormack
Published
image captionRobin Swann says all health workers are valued and have worked tirelessly during the pandemic
Health workers in Northern Ireland are to get a special recognition payment for their work during the pandemic.
It is intended that all staff will receive a payment of £500, said Health Minister Robin Swann.
However, it will be subject to approval from the Department of Finance.
There had been calls from some political parties and health unions for staff to be recognised for their efforts.
Scotland has already announced a similar one-off payment and Mr Swann said it would reflect the principle of parity .
Doha, Cincinnati, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul, among others.
The likes of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are major transfer hubs, so will be bringing arrivals from further afield, such as Australia.
The presence of Poland and Romania among the top source markets appears indicative of the large number of nationals from those countries now living and working in the UK.
Once you add in domestic flights, Heathrow’s total number of scheduled arrivals stands at 150 for January 25 (although a couple of dozen have been cancelled at short notice). It’s more than you might expect, but far less than a typical Monday. Heathrow is currently only using one of its two runways, such is the fall in passengers. Around 600 flights would be turning up on a normal pre-pandemic day.
SCOTS experts warned six months ago that international travel was a main driver of Covid-19 infections but the UK’s rigorous test-before-travel scheme was not introduced until yesterday, allowing the virus to circulate freely in Scotland, it has emerged. New rules requiring arrivals to take a negative coronavirus test up to 72 hours before departure and self-isolate for up to 10 days after entering the UK came into effect at 4am yesterday as travel corridors offering exemptions were scrapped. The move is part of the Government’s attempts to prevent new strains of Covid-19 entering the UK. Passengers arriving in the UK yesterday faced long queues of up to two hours at the border as new coronavirus travel rules came into force. Self-scan gates were shut as officals checked all passengers for proof of a negative Covid-19 test result.
SCOTS experts warned six months ago that international travel was a main driver of Covid-19 infections but the UK’s rigorous test-before-travel scheme was not introduced until yesterday, allowing the virus to circulate freely in Scotland, it has emerged. New rules requiring arrivals to take a negative coronavirus test up to 72 hours before departure and self-isolate for up to 10 days after entering the UK came into effect at 4am yesterday as travel corridors offering exemptions were scrapped. The move is part of the Government’s attempts to prevent new strains of Covid-19 entering the UK. Passengers arriving in the UK yesterday faced long queues of up to two hours at the border as new coronavirus travel rules came into force. Self-scan gates were shut as officals checked all passengers for proof of a negative Covid-19 test result.
Malta is pushing for EU-wide cooperation on the issuing of a vaccination certificate for those who get the COVID-19 jab, with Health Minister Chris Fearne urging European counterparts to decide on the matter soon.
A similar call was also made by Greece on Tuesday as the country, which like Malta is heavily reliant on tourism, seeks to make travelling easier. The issue is expected to be on the agenda of the next meeting of the European Council. It is hoped that a vaccination certificate will avoid the need for travellers to be held in quarantine.
EU countries started vaccinating people on December 27, with rollouts in all countries focusing on the vulnerable and frontline workers.