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Another 11 people with Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland, the Health Department said, bringing the total to 889.
Another 518 confirmed cases of the virus were registered in the last 24 hours.
A total of 48,229 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Northern Ireland since the pandemic began.
Stormont’s chief scientific adviser has said that following the imposition of recent restrictions, the virus’s reproductive number had fallen to 0.8 for two weeks and is now close to 1.
But Professor Ian Young said: “The reduction in cases and, in particular, the occupancy of hospital beds is less than we expected.”
Medical Director Dr. Michael McBride said the epidemic had transformed lives and livelihoods and that “current restrictions are having an impact.”
“R is slowing down, the spread of the infection, however, is not enough or enough to overcome the challenges of the coming months,” he said.
Dr. McBride added that there was a real prospect of being in a different place next spring or summer due to vaccine development and rapid tests that are being done.
Health Minister Robin Swann has said he has had discussions with UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock about introducing rapid mass tests for Northern Ireland.
It comes after a similar initiative in Liverpool earlier this month.
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Hospital for the recovery of patients with Covid-19 in NI will open on Friday
A hospital to rehabilitate recovering Covid-19 patients will open in Co Antrim on Friday.
It is for those who are well enough to leave acute medical services but who would benefit from care that cannot be provided at home.
This includes occupational therapy designed to help them become more mobile again after long periods of rest and fatigue.
The Nightingale facility will be part of Whiteabbey Hospital in Newtownabbey.
It will be administered by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and will be available to patients throughout Northern Ireland.
Care will be led by advanced nurses and experienced healthcare workers, with medical treatment provided by GPs.
Audrey Harris, the trust’s chief medicine officer, said 70 people were delayed at the hospital during the latest Covid-19 surge who could have benefited from rehab.
Northern Ireland’s main Nightingale hospital for acute patients, which is housed at Belfast City Hospital, was withdrawn after the peak of the first wave of the pandemic passed last spring.
It reopened earlier this fall after a steady growth in the number of patients requiring ventilated admission.
At one point, hospitals were at over capacity and in a fully augmented emergency position.
Several hospitals in Northern Ireland have canceled elective procedures to cope with the additional pressures of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the PSNI also said that as of 9 a.m. today, there are 509 officers / staff members absent due to Covid-19. Of these, 429 are self-insulating.
A PSNI spokesperson said the force “will continue to flex its resources to meet police demand in Northern Ireland as part of our ongoing commitment to keeping people safe.”
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