Stormont ministers are to consider relaxing the rules on self-isolation in the North at a meeting on Thursday.
Ministers will examine a proposal to bring regulations into line with the rest of the UK, meaning people who are contacts with positive cases will no longer have to isolate for 10 days as long as they test negative and have both jabs of the vaccine.
At Thursday’s executive meeting, ministers will also discuss whether to drop the use of face masks in post-primary schools.
Allowing the return of conferences and exhibitions will also be considered, as will the one-metre social distancing requirement in indoor settings.
Ministers are convening for the first time in two weeks amid continuing high infection rates in the North, where transmission rates are now the highest in the UK.
For the seven days up to August 1st the North's infection rate was 445.3 per 100,000 people. This was almost twice as high as the rate in England (282.1) and more than three times as high as the rate in Scotland (143.6) and Wales (141.5).
Economy minister Gordon Lyons said the current requirement for people to isolate for 10 days was having a negative impact on businesses.
“Combined with the difficulties that already exist within the labour market, the self-isolation rules that we have in Northern Ireland are causing real issues,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.
“We’re obviously behind the rest of the UK on this. They’ve recognised that there has been a problem, they’ve moved to address that, I hope we can do the same.”
