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The ambulance service is prepared for delays and hospitals have reached their maximum capacity in Northern Ireland.
Total bed occupancy is 100%, with only six beds still empty, the latest official figures show.
Paramedic chiefs have warned that Covid-19 staff sickness absences could delay responses to 999 calls at one of the busiest times of the year.
About 160 employees were out of work for reasons related to the pandemic.
Response times for less urgent cases were expected to increase and emergency callers could wait longer on the line.
Meanwhile, schools will offer remote learning in the first week of the new term after return to classrooms was delayed due to rising rates of Covid-19 infection.
A statement from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) read: “Unfortunately, the NIAS Emergency Ambulance Control Room is experiencing absences due to Covid-19, and contingency planning to mitigate the potential risk of disruption of the service is in progress.
“This has put our service under even more pressure and we anticipate that 999 callers may, at times, experience a delay in responding to their calls.”
Another 11 people have died with Covid-19, the Stormont Health Department said.
Another 1,929 people tested positive.
The occupancy of hospital beds was 467, 34 in an intensive care unit and 27 in a ventilator.
The total number of hospitalized patients is 495, according to the Health Department panel.
A total of 107 Covid outbreaks were being addressed in nursing homes.
Education Minister Peter Weir said the delay in reopening schools would affect both primary and secondary settings.
For high school years 8-11, distance learning would continue throughout January.
Schools would open next week to accommodate vulnerable children and key workers.
Child care facilities, including those attached to schools, preschool facilities, nurseries and special schools, would also open as usual next week.
Weir had faced mounting pressure to delay going back to school after the Christmas break due to worsening infection rates.
The minister said examinations scheduled for January would be carried out in accordance with public health councils.
He said schools would have the flexibility to offer face-to-face learning for students because they will sit for those exams if they want to.
“I must emphasize that these decisions are not made lightly because I know the negative impact on learning, mental health and well-being of children of not being in school,” he said.
“However, particularly after unprecedented levels of positive testing for Covid-19 since Christmas, and the pressure this puts on our healthcare service, it is critical that we all take public health and scientific advice into account as we wait for days. brighter ahead “.
The launch of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine in Northern Ireland will begin at GP practice on Monday.
An initial batch of 50,000 doses has been assigned.
Those over 80 will be prioritized initially.
Medical Director Dr. Michael McBride said a first dose should be offered to as many people on the priority list as possible.
He added: “Evidence shows that the initial dose of vaccine offers up to 70% protection against the effects of the virus.
“Providing that level of protection on a large scale will have the greatest impact in reducing mortality and hospitalizations, protecting the health and social care system. It is the right thing to do for public health ”.
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