As Nottingham’s High Street shops try to find a way of making Black Friday successful during a pandemic, Northern Ireland have held a ‘Black Thursday’ before lockdown begins again.
As lockdown starts again in Northern Ireland, shoppers across the country are trying to finish their Christmas shopping in a panic.
Unlike Nottingham and the rest of the UK, all of Northern Ireland’s retail has been open to the public in recent weeks.
However, as the number of Coronavirus cases rise, Northern Ireland’s government met to discuss options.
Tonight's decision at the Executive was not an easy, but there was no other choice.
We must continue to follow the expert public health advice.
Our health service and our health care workers are in danger of being overwhelmed if we don’t intervene now pic.twitter.com/R63Ve5pEI3
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) November 19, 2020
They came to the decision on November 19th that non-essential shops could stay open until November 26th, the day before Black Friday.
Closing shops the day before Black Friday has led to a rush of people trying to grab the bargains before the shops close for two weeks.
Due to the social distancing and capacity restrictions, shops were unable to keep up with the swarms of people who went to grab good deals on the run up to Black Friday.
Belfast City Centre was overcrowded with people, causing long queues outside each shop throughout the day.
“If you are prepared to queue like this I hope you are also prepared to live with the consequences these actions might have to your friends and family.”
Jo Bruce
When this picture was uploaded onto Facebook people expressed their anger about the situation.
Jo Bruce commented, “Seriously doubt a pair of PJs from Primark is worth the risk… catch a grip people.”
“It doesn’t matter what restrictions are put in place when people show this level of selfishness, ignorance and stupidity.”
“If you are prepared to queue like this I hope you are also prepared to live with the consequences these actions might have to your friends and family.”
Police tried to keep the numbers of people in queues under control ensuring social distancing measures were in place.
There are simple steps that you can take while out shopping to help reduce the spread of #COVID19. Remember to keep your distance while shopping and use contactless payment where possible. Please be kind to staff & other customers. https://t.co/1JiSKbQ8kF@niexecutive @healthdpt pic.twitter.com/KBdgPeRRa5
— nidirect (@nidirect) November 25, 2020
Shoppers are advised to wear a face covering at all times, hand sanitize regularly, maintain social distancing and use contactless payment methods where possible.
Retail assistant Max Tosh spoke about the Black Friday rush this year.
