The Department of Health has made a Statutory Rule entitled "The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021", (S.R. 2021 No. 131) which came into operation on 24 May 2021.

This Rule amends the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 ("the principal regulations") in order to require members of the public to wear face coverings, except in certain limited cases, whilst inside an enclosed public area in order to protect against the risks to public health arising from coronavirus. This Rule provides that a person is not required to wear a face covering if they are a person leading a service in a place of worship or a place where beliefs are practised, a couple at a ceremony to solemnise their marriage or to form their civil partnership or a person performing physical exercise in a gym, leisure centre or similar venue. This Rule also provides that a person is not required to wear a face covering if they are a person who is a visitor to, and seated in, a premises prescribed at paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the principal regulations, that is, a restaurant, cafe or similar premises.

The rule may be purchased from the Stationery office at www.tsoshop.co.uk or by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0333 202 5070, or viewed online at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr