Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O'Neill is self-isolating after a family member tested positive for Covid-19.
The Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland is awaiting a test for the virus.
A spokesperson for the party has said she will continue to carry out her duties within the Stormont Executive remotely.
It comes as Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long revealed today that doctors told her she was probably infected with coronavirus earlier this year and suffered long Covid in the months that followed.
Northern Ireland has seen soaring case numbers of the virus as of late, with 923 new cases confirmed in the region yesterday and some 4,674 cases reported over the last seven days.
Yesterday, Ms O’Neill said the Executive is “extremely concerned at the steep and dangerous curve of infection that we are now on.”
“We are past the point of warnings, this is real and it’s happening now,” she said.
“We’re not trying to alarm people but it’s important for us to get across in the strongest possible terms that we need your help, we’re appealing for everyone to take action now. We can all make a difference now.”
We now have a very narrow window to get on top of the situation.
Ms O’Neill said 120 people with Covid-19 were being cared for in hospital, including 15 in intensive care and 11 on ventilators.
She said admissions were steadily increasing with a doubling time of eight days.
“If we continue at the rate things are going then the number of people we will see in our hospitals will exceed the first wave in just two-three weeks’ time,” she said.
“We now have a very narrow window to get on top of the situation.”
Yesterday, Stormont Executive ministers agreed a number of new measures aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus, including broadening the mandatory face-covering rule to apply in new locations and introducing a new regime of penalties for breaches of rules with a tariff of £200 (€219).
Today, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said that a joint response to the Covid-19 pandemic between all jurisdictions on the island of Ireland is essential as the Irish Government is “not in the business of erecting barriers between north and south.”
