The Northern Ireland Executive has slotxo announced that lockdown restrictions will begin lifting from 23 April when businesses like barbers and hairdressers reopen again.

The mantra throughout the lockdown period - for all devolved regions and the UK government - has been "data, not dates" when it came to decisions to unlock.

So what does the data tell us?

The death rate has fallen slightly over the last week or so.

The number of people in hospital with the virus has continued to fall.

Some numbers have risen over the past week, notably case numbers and infection rates.

However, these rises come in the context of a dip in the number of people being tested over Easter - and they're still much lower than they were a few weeks ago

Infection rates

Infection rates have risen over the past week. But let's put that in context.

Yes, we're seeing more people test positive than this time last week. Yes, the overall infection rate in Northern Ireland has risen. And yes, the reproduction (R) number is estimated to be higher than it was seven days ago.

But - and it's an important but - these rises have been small and the overall numbers involved remain lower than they were a few weeks ago.

The other thing worth bearing in mind is that some further rise in infection rates is virtually inevitable as we start to unlock.

The latest data from the UK government - for the seven days up until 11 April - indicates that Northern Ireland has the highest infection rate in the UK at 38.1 per 100,000 population.

Testing

While compared to a week ago, the number of people testing positive for the virus in Northern Ireland has increased, the number of people getting tested has also risen.

This means that the positivity rate is actually quite good.

Over the past week, about one in every 55 people tested has received a positive result - equivalent to 1.79% positivity.

The previous week those same figures were one in 37, or 2.66%.