A second Nightingale facility will open at Whiteabbey Hospital, Health Minister Robin Swann has confirmed.
The "step-down facility" will have 100 intermediate care beds and is being opened in preparation for a potential Covid-19 surge, he added.
It will be in addition to the Nightingale Hospital at Belfast City Hospital which was stood down during a number of months ago.
Speaking about the second care setting, Mr Swann said: "This Nightingale facility will provide an additional 100 regional intermediate care beds to help aid the flow of patients from ICU and acute care."
Mr Swann said he was convinced that coronavirus "has the potential for another full-scale assault" and said Covid-19 surge planning was taking place.
Testing
The health minister said Covid-19 testing centres were under pressure, in part due to schools having reopened.
He said the number of tests carried out yesterday was the sixth highest since testing began.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said there had been 800 calls to the coronavirus NHS testing helpline yesterday and 65 met the criteria for testing.
"We are testing more per 100,000 of the population that any other part of these islands," he added.
Dr McBride added that two thirds of those people testing positive for coronavirus are under 40.
The Department of Health today recorded a further two deaths and 71 new cases. One of the deaths occured in the past 24 hours and the other person died outside that period. To date 562 people have died from coroanvirus. There are currently three people being cared for in Intensive Care Units. Read more
