An announcement is expected today on further easing of lockdown restrictions in Northern Ireland.
The number of people who have lost their lives in the north's coronavirus pandemic now stands at 476, after the death of three more people from Covid-19 was confirmed by the Department of Health yesterday.
In the Republic, where more lockdown restrictions have been relaxed today, there have now been 1,543 Covid-19 related deaths, with 10 more reported by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre last night.
A total of 2,019 people have now died across the island, with 24,112 confirmed cases in the Republic - almost a third associated with healthcare workers and 49 per cent in Dublin.
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On Saturday it had the lowest number of daily reported confirmed cases since mid-March
Health officials in the south are "working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread".
A technical issue with Northern Ireland's reporting system meant the latest numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases were not announced yesterday.
On Saturday it stood at 4,357.
Yesterday, the UK's daily death toll figures - which did not include Northern Ireland - were the lowest since the lockdown began dropping to 170.
First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill are expected to move the north fully to Step One of its five-point exit plan this afternoon.
This would see a move towards alignment with the south with outdoor gatherings of four to six people from outside the same household permitted for the first time since lockdown began.
It is also likely churches will be reopened for solitary prayer and drive-in services allowed - although both the most senior Catholic and Anglican clerics have said they are unlikely to avail of the `car park church' option.
Golf and tennis may also be permitted to resume.
Social distancing stencilling has been introduced in parks across Belfast as a visual guide for those meeting family and friends outside for the first time.
Last week chief scientific and medical advisors indicated that the infection rate (R) is reached a point which would allow Step One to begin.
It has fallen below 0.7, indicating the virus's prevalence is gradually decreasing in the population.
Meanwhile, officials are using Mental Health Awareness Week to acknowledge "the effect and scale of the challenge facing our communities and our workforce as a result of Covid-19 cannot be underestimated".
Health leaders said they anticipate seeing "a range of psychological and mental health needs emerging due to the impact of the pandemic" and insist they have been planning "for the psychological impact on our communities, workforce and those who have been bereaved during the pandemic".
Marie Roulston of the Health and Social Care Board said "we must expect an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of our community, either directly as a consequence of illness or bereavement, or as an indirect consequence of the lockdown and its impact on society and the economy".
Professor Hugo Van Woerden of the Public Health Agency urged "anyone who is feeling anxious or distressed to seek support either through their GP, other services in their local community or the online resources that are available".
