STORMONT health minister Robin Swann last night said "concrete action" is needed to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Swann said he would today be asking fellow ministers to tighten Covid-19 restrictions during an "important" Executive meeting.
He said decisions would be required on whether it would apply to Northern Ireland as a whole or to more localised areas, where there are higher rates of the virus.
It came after Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill earlier said it was inevitable local lockdowns will be imposed to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young said there had been a 20-fold increase in the number of cases in recent times compared to just a five-fold rise in the number of tests.
The daily average is now over 90.
He also said there was no area of Northern Ireland where the virus had not hit in recent weeks. The numbers had been rising sharply, he said, as have positive tests with more people in older age groups starting to test positive.
The Department of Health last night said 607 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last seven days in Northern Ireland.
Another 49 were diagnosed in the most recent 24-hour period, according to the latest daily figures.
There were no further deaths. Three people with Covid-19 died in the Republic with another 84 cases of coronavirus confirmed last night.
During a press briefing yesterday, Mr Swann said he would be recommending that the Executive tightens lockdown measures adding that he is confident they would agree on action now, hopefully avoiding more restrictions later.
"The message is simple. The summer is over," he said.
"In common with other jurisdictions, we have decisions to make on how we stem a disturbing increase in Covid cases.
"I believe concrete action is now necessary."
Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride also said: "We are now at a crossroads, individually and collectively.
"As a society, we have stark choices to make."
Ms O'Neill earlier said the Executive will be guided by public health advice.
"The fact that we have data that brings you right down to the postcode level shows that we are able to adapt in a smaller geographical area where we need to," she added.
"I think it's inevitable that we will be moving very quickly to local lockdowns that's going to be required in order to protect people."
First Minister Arlene Foster said the Executive may have to take similar interventions like those imposed in Glasgow, where households are banned from visiting others indoors.
"We want to take proportionate action and we will always have to under the law," she said.
"We will have a full discussion on Covid."
"You have seen limited lockdowns in other parts of the UK and the Republic, we haven't had to do that thus far, we may have to do that tomorrow."
She also said she hopes to give an indicative date for the reopening of so-called "wet pubs" today as she praised the hospitality sector for how it has implemented the latest health measures.
"I think it is unfair that one section of one part of our economy have not been able to open," she said.
"I hope that we can give an indicative date tomorrow to those wet pubs.
"They deserve it and people have been abiding by the law for a very long time and I want to pay tribute to their resilience, but I think we do need to give them, in a graduated way, a date they can reopen."
