Health minister of Northern Ireland has warned citizens from the Republic who are constantly traveling North for haircuts or hospitality after the Covid-19 rules ease later this week that they would break the law in their own jurisdiction.

In an interview with Irish Times, Robin Swann said that travel bans are still in place for the Republic of Ireland and people coming to the North to access any services would be considered as non-essential travel outside a county boundary as per my understanding and my reading of their regulations.

Inconsistent Covid-19 situation on either side of the Border is still a concern, but it will not affect plans to ease restrictions in the North. Services like hairdressers and barbers are still to reopen in the North from April 23rd, whereas all retails will reopen on April 30th. Unlicensed restaurants and cafes are also allowed to reopen for outdoor service only on the same date, as will beer gardens.

Dr Tom Black from British Medical Association’s Northern Ireland Council gave a similar warning, saying that his “biggest concern” was the “high risk” of people crossing the Border once non-essential retail and hospitality services will be reopened. Every time we manage to drive down the rate of infection, people mix more, they are not adhering to the restrictions which leads to complacency and at last leads to infection on a large scale. Vaccination program has made a tremendous impact, which was clear in the ages of those people who are contracting Covid-19 and are predominantly younger people.

North’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride Speaking at a Department of Health briefing on Wednesday said that any differences across the Border will undoubtably present challenges from a scientific and a public health perspective.

While infection rates and the progress of vaccinations on either side of the Border are slightly out of sync, in order to control the virus, we need to continue doing what we can, to work closely together and should also continue to vaccinate as quickly as possible.

He explained the close working relationships between the authorities of North and South, and said that there was a regular engagement. Another person with Covid-19 has died in the North, and the total number of fatalities has now increased to 2,137 with more 116 people tested positive for the virus. 59 people are still getting treated for Covid-19 in the North’s hospitals, out of which nine are in intensive care.

Within this day, over 1.174 million vaccine doses had been administered, with 876,290 of first doses. About 90 percent of population over 50s have been vaccinated so far, with jabs available to anyone aged 35 and over.