A further 3,286 positive Covid cases have been recorded in Northern Ireland on Friday.
This brings the total number of positive cases to 367,181 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Department of Health.
Sadly, three further deaths have been reported over the last 24 hours which brings the total to 2,962 since the start of the pandemic.
Over the past seven days, the Department said 18,721 individuals have tested positive in Northern Ireland.
The Covid-19 dashboard and associated Excel data will not be updated from 25 - 28 December or from 1 - 3 January 2022 inclusive.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's Health Minister has strongly warned against complacency over the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
Robin Swann today emphasised that Omicron poses a significant threat to health and social care services.
He confirmed that the new variant is now dominant in Northern Ireland, accounting for a majority of new Covid-19 infections.
"There remains a great deal of uncertainty about Omicron," Minister Swann added.
"Some early research from Great Britain suggests it may be less severe than the Delta variant in terms of the proportion of infected people who require treatment in hospital.
“More information is still required and the findings are not definitive. I must emphasise that this early research definitely does not mean that Omicron should be taken any less seriously.
“It is much more infectious than Delta and will therefore lead to much greater levels of infection. Even with a lower proportion being hospitalised, if the number of cases rises to very high levels, the number of Covid in-patients will increase as well. Pressure on our hospitals could therefore be significantly increased."
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