As part of the preparations for the first wave, our priority was to ensure that the health and care system had sufficient capacity to deal with the rising numbers of Covid-19 patients.

Health Minister Robin Swann today spelt out a wide range of measures being deployed in Northern Ireland to protect care home residents during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Health Minister Robin Swann and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael McBride discuss critical care, testing, support for care homes and de-escalation of Nightingale Hospital.

Northern Ireland Executive ministers and their officials have over the past 24 hours been involved in a number of initiatives and critical decisions relating to the Coronavirus emergency.

A phased five-stage plan for slowly moving out of lockdown has been published by the Executive today.