Stormont Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has warned that Omicron will hit Northern Ireland "like a ton of bricks".
Ms O'Neill said that modelling presented to ministers suggested that in a worst-case scenario it could be facing 30,000 Omicron cases a day.
Executive ministers are involved in ongoing discussions about the situation ahead of a formal meeting on Wednesday, when it is expected new restrictions to be applied after Christmas will be announced.
She said: "These figures are really alarming. It is going to be the sheer volume of cases that is going to be a dominant feature throughout January.
"We know that by Christmas Day we could potentially have 11,000 cases a day.
"We know that in the worst-case scenario, in terms of some of the modelling that has been done, we could be facing up to 30,000 cases a day.
"You can take from that the sheer volume of cases is going to be overwhelming, every government department, every minister has their sleeves rolled up in terms of trying to plan for what is coming at us."
The latest figures show 1,798 new cases and two more deaths in the past 24 hours.
Ms O'Neill said the Stormont Executive would look at "all options" in terms of introducing new Covid restrictions.
She said: "Everything is on the table. We have to look at all options.
"I think we will have a clearer picture tomorrow in terms of impact on hospital numbers, which is a crucially important factor in terms of any intervention that we may decide to make.
"Health have been very clear that the booster programme in itself won't be enough to protect us, we will need a significant intervention alongside that.
"The nature of that intervention, the timing of that intervention and the length of that intervention is yet to be decided upon.
"Wednesday is our scheduled Executive meeting but if we need to come to a decision point before that then that is certainly what we will do," said Ms O'Neill.
The extension of the Covid vaccine booster programme to 18 to 29-year-olds in Northern Ireland has been brought forward to today with immediate effect.
This means the vaccine booster programme is now open to everyone aged 18 and over who received their second dose at least three months ago.
Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride said: "The Omicron variant is spreading rapidly and is likely to be dominant or close to dominant in Northern Ireland by Christmas.
"Given its infectiousness, the risk of any of us catching the virus is most definitely heightened.
"That's why getting the protection of a booster dose is so important and urgent."
