Covid: Cafes could open in Northern Ireland before classrooms are filled

However, the document states that it will be possible to go for a meal with a friend to a coffee shop, host a small barbecue in a garden with one other household, or play a round of golf by the end of the second stage, known as the Cautious First Steps phase.

The Executive has said restrictions in different sections can be eased at different times, but when asked whether it plans to keep in place current restrictions until all pupils are back in school and the impact on the R number has been assessed, a spokeswoman did not give a firm guarantee.

She said: "The Executive has prioritised the education and well-being of young people and aims to return all students to school as soon as possible after the Easter holidays, subject to levels of community transmission.

"As outlined in the pathway out of restrictions, progress through the phases will be based on a range of evidence and will seek to balance benefits with the potential impact on the transmission of the virus. This means we may be in different phases across the nine pathways at any given time."

Public health physician Professor Gabriel Scally, a member of independent SAGE advisory group, said allowing more people to mix will result in a rise in community transmission and could hinder plans for all schools to reopen. He said: "The current position is ridiculous - the first priority should be children going back to school safely but that simply isn't the case at the moment.

"The Executive should be giving a clear commitment on this issue. It is either a priority or it isn't, and if churches or coffee shops reopening are more important, then they should come out and say that.

"As soon as people begin to mix again, the infection rate will begin to increase. We should be getting all children back to school safely and assessing the effect on the rate of infection before we move on to opening up other sectors.

"We used to think that the virus spread in droplets but we now know it is aerosol spread so it hangs in the air and you get a build up in enclosed spaces.

"Secondly, we are dealing with a variant that is much more infectious than when we came out of lockdown the first time, so I don't think it is accurate to say that coffee shops are particularly low risk."

Professor Helen Dolk, a professor of epidemiology and health research who is also a member of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group, said: "I think there is general agreement that children are special and an absolute priority. So I would like to see an explicit commitment in the roadmap that there will never again be a situation like last Halloween that schools are closed while shops or cafes are open.

"Closing schools is the last resort when other measures are insufficient, and is only worthwhile to reduce transmission if there are no alternative indoor contact venues. If we want our children in school, the health service to recover, and the domestic economy to pick up, then this year we need to be strict about quarantine for international travel, while we let the vaccination program kick in here and globally. It is not a pick and mix situation - all measures combining together is what controls the virus."

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “It is the minister’s preference to have all pupils in school as soon as practicably possible, but this has to be balanced against the public health position. The advice that the Executive has received from the medical and scientific experts is that this should be done cautiously and slowly.

“The department has provided detailed guidance to schools on Covid management, which is based on the latest public health advice and is updated regularly.”