Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called for a shutdown of non-essential businesses. She said it was intolerable and unacceptable that some workers were still facing risks during this coronavirus emergency. "It is simply not possible, in many cases, to practice social distancing.
In other cases there are not even the basic protections you would expect for people to keep their hands clean," she said. Indeed, she highlighted a building site with 400 workers, which had only one tap for hand washing.
McDonald added that a further shut down would mean mean thousands of temporary redundancies. She said supermarkets, pharmacies and "blue light services" were essential services which would need remain open, while calling for a proper