The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed to reduce the five day Christmas bubbling arrangements in the region to just one day.
The relaxation of Covid rules to allow three households to gather together will now be limited to Christmas Day. But flexibility will be afforded to people working on December 25 to enable them to bubble on another day over the festive break.
The decision was made by Stormont ministers during an emergency virtual executive meeting late on Sunday night. Ministers reportedly opted against a temporary ban on travel from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in response to the new variant of Covid-19 that has taken hold in other parts of the UK.