Schools and pubs to close as NI set for four weeks of intensified Covid restrictions

Ciara McCartney walks past a face covering display at Innisfree Newsagents in Belfast.

The North is set for a period of intensified coronavirus restrictions after executive ministers agreed to closures of schools, pubs and restaurants.

The PA news agency understands pubs and restaurants will close for four weeks, with the exception of takeaways, while schools will close for two, one of which will cover the half-term Halloween break.