Northern Ireland’s coronavirus transmission rates are still too high, Robin Swann has warned.
The Stormont Health Minister urged the public to be inspired by the late Captain Sir Tom Moore and take one step at a time to push down the virus.
The region remains under tough coronavirus restrictions which have seen new case numbers drop from more than 1,000 a day to 504 announced on Wednesday.
Mr Swann said the numbers need to be pushed down further and kept down as health workers remain under pressure amid the third wave of the virus.
Let’s keep being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore as we mourn his loss, let us remember all he achieved, one step at a time
BBC News
By Louise Cullen
image captionMore than 100 medically-trained military personnel will be deployed in NI
Military personnel are now on hospital wards in Northern Ireland to help alleviate the staffing pressures of the pandemic.
The paramedic-grade equivalent staff have been drawn from different units across the UK, from all three services - the RAF, Royal Navy and Army.
The medics arrived in NI on a military transport flight from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire earlier this week.
They will take up nursing assistant roles in local hospitals.
Eventually, more than 100 medically-trained military personnel will be deployed in Northern Ireland.