There is tentative good news for cycling and other outdoor
sports in Northern Ireland as their return is planned very early once restrictions
currently in place to combat Covid-19 are eased.
The Northern Irish authorities have set out a five-step plan for how restrictions will be eased and outdoor sports are among the first things to return.
A road map for all parts of society – from sport to education, retail, hospitality and more – has been published indicating the manner and sequence restrictions will be eased across all of them.
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Each of the five “steps” sees restrictions easing a little further and the current set of restrictions in place are ‘step 1’ under the five-step plan.
The great news for cycling, and other outdoor sports, is that their resumption is included in ‘step 2’. That means immediately the current restrictions are eased for the first time, and Northern Ireland moves into ‘step 2’, cycling and other outdoor sports will be able to return.
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The major drawback with the plan is that no timetable has
been placed on it. That means we don’t yet know when Northern Ireland will move
from its current ‘step 1’ phase into ‘step 2’ and subsequent phases.
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However, the plan at least confirms that outdoor sports
will be among the very first things to resume when restrictions begin to be
eased.
Yesterday Northern Ireland’s Department of Health
confirmed almost 583,000 vaccine doses had been administered so far, almost all
of them first doses.
People in the 60-64 years ago group were now being offered vaccines and the vaccination programme in the North is about to be scaled up very significantly in comes weeks as more vaccines become available.
Five step plan for sports
Step one
- Outdoor exercise with own household or one other person - stay in local area
- Training and competition for elite athletes permitted
Step two
- Outdoor sports facilities re-open for training and organised group activities
- Outdoor competitive sport can resume with no spectators
Step three
- Leisure centres and all indoor sports facilities reopen, including swimming pools and gyms
- Indoor group activities and classes resume
- Leisure activity venues reopen, including soft play
Step four
- Limited number of outdoor spectators allowed
- Limited number of indoor spectators allowed
Step five
- Further outdoor spectators allowed
- Further indoor spectators allowed
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