Alliance Health Spokesperson Paula Bradshaw has said the admission by the Public Health Agency that there have been sixteen clusters since 22 May means the nature of those clusters must be revealed.

The South Belfast MLA stated: “I myself had asked Assembly Questions about the nature of apparent outbreaks in particular locations, and about what we were learning from contact tracing, and was assured these were just matters of increased transmission.

“Now it turns out that the recently publicised case near Limavady is one of sixteen since 22 May. The issue is we have not been informed about the nature of these clusters and, particularly, how they originated.

“A public health emergency needs public support and therefore good public information. That means the public must be fully informed about the types of behaviour which have proven particularly dangerous in terms of leading to super-spreading events.

“I would therefore urge the Minister to ensure the Public Health Agency publishes information about the nature of each cluster and what we can learn from it.”