The move for the PHA to largely take over contact tracing will bring Northern Ireland in line with the position being taken in Great Britain.
The minister said the decision to change rules on self-isolation had been backed by health officials. It changed previous guidance for close contacts to isolate for 10 days and aimed to reduce the time children spent out of school.The executive had agreed to proposals from the health minister, which meant pupils identified as close contacts would only have to self-isolate until a negative PCR test was received, Ms McIlveen said.
She said schools should also continue to focus on other mitigations in place to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission such as ventilation and face coverings, as well as "regular asymptomatic testing using lateral flow devices".Sinn Féin's Colm Gildernew said while he welcomed the move for the PHA to take over, he did not believe it would resolve problems entirely.
Chris Lyttle, Alliance assembly member and chair of the education committee at Stormont, rejected claims that other parties had "targeted" the education minister and criticised the lack of communication from her department.