THE Stormont executive will meet today to discuss new measures aimed at stemming worrying coronavirus rates.
Health minister Robin Swann said last night he would put forward "robust interventions" to executive colleagues.
First Minister Arlene Foster said she did not anticipate fresh restrictions before Christmas, while Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said an "intervention" was required but she did not specify when.
Ms O'Neill said she intends to make the "right decision" on the measures "not the popular one".
"Christmas will be here next year also, it is a very difficult time, it is a very difficult decision to make as political leaders, sometimes you have to do the right thing, not the popular thing and in my mind what we need to do is whatever is right to keep people safe and to save lives," she said.
"I am up for doing whatever is required, so I'll work with executive colleagues tomorrow to try and arrive at a position that actually delivers that."
Mrs Foster said that while she did not expect Mr Swann to be recommending that new measures be introduced before Christmas, she did not wish to prejudge what the health minister would bring to the table.
"Unfortunately the last two weeks don't appear to have brought the R number down below 1, there is a diminishing return in terms of restrictions, people are out and about now and so there is a very great need for people to have personal responsibility," the DUP leader said.
"I am not going to prejudge what the minister is going to bring to us but undoubtedly we will have something to say tomorrow and over the next few days."
Ms O'Neill also urged people to follow the public health advice and limit their movements ahead of Christmas gatherings.
It emerged that eight of Northern Ireland's 12 major hospitals were operating beyond capacity for the first time yesterday, after Antrim Area Hospital medics were this week forced to treat ambulance patients in a car park due to spike in Covid admissions and staff shortages.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday described the number of coronavirus cases in Northern Ireland as "very worrying and concerning".
He said there would be a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council tomorrow and government officials will meet with public health advisors weekly to monitor the figures.
Irish Labour Party leader Alan Kelly said he was "deeply concerned" about how the Executive was dealing with Covid, warning of the potential impact in border areas.
"The infection rate in Northern Ireland is now four times the rate in the south. The difference in infection rates is alarming," he said.
"The Taoiseach and the government must make it very clear to the Executive, which does not have experience in making hard decisions, that it is going to have to change tack and quickly."
The Republic has recently come out of a six-week lockdown.
Asked yesterday if the Stormont had eased circuit-breaker restrictions too soon, Ms O'Neill said: "We followed the public health advice the whole way through, I wouldn't have done anything unless it was supported by the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser and that will be the position again tomorrow.
"But I would make a strong case that we clearly need an intervention, it's the timing of when that can be most effective that we need to consider, but I don't think there is any doubt that an intervention is required."
The ministers were speaking in Newry soon after more than 300 passengers disembarked from Stena Line's Merseyside to Belfast ferry having been kept onboard overnight after six crew members tested positive for coronavirus.
The passengers left the Stena Edda ship shortly before noon in Birkenhead, where the vessel had remained since the previous evening with 322 passengers and 53 staff.
A Stena spokesman said the crew members who tested positive for Covid-19 had displayed only mild symptoms and that 15 close contacts had been identified and were self-isolating.
Meanwhile, lobby group Hospitality Ulster has said an updated interpretation of regulations around entertainment for groups of more than 15 people and social distancing mitigations are compounding the sector's challenges.
Chief executive Colin Neill said many food pubs, restaurants and hotels were "left in limbo – officially allowed to open but with a business model that is not financially viable."
"We urgently need the executive to allow hospitality businesses to opt for closure and qualify for financial assistance where it is simply unsustainable to open due to the current Covid regulations," he said.
