Twenty further people have died as a result of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland.
There are 1,500 new cases.
The Department of Health #COVID19 dashboard has been updated.
1,500 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Sadly, a further 20 deaths have been reported.https://t.co/YN16dmGzhv pic.twitter.com/30uu7bcKFs
— Department of Health (@healthdpt) January 8, 2021
Elsewhere, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has declared a ‘major incident’ in London due to rising coronavirus cases and the number of people requiring hospital treatment.
Meanwhile concern has been raised about how effective coronavirus vaccines are against the new disease variant found in South Africa.
But research from Pfizer suggests its vaccine may still work to protect people.