A further nine coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Northern Ireland, eight of them occurring during the past 24 hours. It takes the official death toll to 697.
566 new cases of the disease were reported, bringing the total number of cases there to 37,782.
There are 354 confirmed Covid-19 patients in hospitals, with 43 in intensive care units, 38 of whom are on ventilators.
The seven-day rate of infection per 100,000 for Northern Ireland is 288.2.
The highest rate, 457.6, is in the Mid Ulster council area, followed by Derry and Strabane on 390, then Belfast on 385.4.
Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann said in a statement: "Over the last week, the number of cases has continued to plateau and has begun to decline slightly.
"However, I would caution the rate of decline is slow and the trajectory remains uncertain.
"The R [reproductive number] is now likely to be slightly below 1 for cases, around 1 for admissions and above 1 for hospital inpatients, but has fallen somewhat since last week.
"This is likely to reflect the initial impact of the Northern Ireland wide restrictions and the earlier restrictions in Derry City and Strabane, which is no longer the local government district with the highest seven-day incidence."
Mr Swann warned that "while strenuous efforts are being made to maintain non-Covid services, this will not always be possible – especially when increasing numbers of ICU patients require the redeployment of specialist staff from other posts".
Northern Ireland's weekly Covid-19 death toll has risen for the second week in a row. There were 37 Covid-19 related deaths recorded by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra), up from 27 the previous week.
The Nisra, which reports with a week lag, put the death toll at the end of last week at 979. The 37 deaths occurred in the week 17-23 October.
The comparative total number of deaths reported daily by Northern Ireland's Department of Health stood at 643 on 23 October.
The Nisra data gives a fuller picture of Covid-19 fatalities than the figures released by the department.
The department's statistics focus primarily on hospital deaths and only includes people who have tested positive for the virus.
Nisra obtains its data from death certificates in which Covid-19 is recorded as a factor by a medical professional, regardless of where the death took place.
The person may or may not have tested positive for the virus.
Of the 979 deaths recorded by Nisra by October 23, 547 (55.9%) occurred in hospital, 363 (37.1%) in care homes, eight (0.8%) in hospices and 61 (6.2%) at residential addresses or other locations.
The 371 deaths which occurred in care homes and hospices involved 88 separate establishments.
Nisra also analyses the total number of care home residents who have died, whether in their home or in hospital, having been transferred for treatment.
Up to 23 October, the deaths of 451 care home residents were linked to Covid-19, 88 of which occurred in hospital.
Care home residents make up about 46.1% of all deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate of 42 (10.7%) of the 391 deaths registered in week 42.
This is 25 more than the previous week and brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths registered in the calendar year up to 23 October to 972.
Additional reporting PA
