Breaking news - 2 new cases of the coronavirus confirmed in Northern Ireland
Two more cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total there to three.
The NI Department of Health has said the cases were not connected and both patients were adults.
One person travelled back to Northern Ireland from northern Italy, while the other had contact with a person in the UK, who subsequently tested positive for the virus.
The first case in Northern Ireland was confirmed last week and concerned a person who had returned from northern Italy.
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The department said the latest patients were receiving appropriate care.
Health officials said they were working rapidly to identify any contact they may have had, with the aim of preventing further spread of the virus.
There have been two confirmed cases in the Republic of Ireland, with both patients returning from northern Italy.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has warned that the virus could be with us "for months and months".
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Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Harris said that Irish citizens are being advised to avoid unnecessary travel to northern Italy, but that banning flights arriving here from affected areas would not be effective.
"All of the public health advice - not just in Ireland, but at an EU level - is that that wouldn't be effective for a variety of reasons", Mr Harris said.
"Including the fact that even if you did do it, what's to stop somebody arriving from an affected region who has flown out of another member state?"
Yesterday, the Department of Health confirmed that there is a second case of coronavirus in Ireland.
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The patient, a female in the east of the country, travelled here from northern Italy. The department said that the process of tracing contact and notifying those contact was under way.
With regards to the cancellation of the Ireland-Italy rugby match last week, Mr Harris said there were "very specific circumstances" under which he was advised to do so.
He said he understands that many Italians may still choose to travel to Ireland for the weekend, but that the risk was having a "very large number of people from an affected region in a confined space".
The risk is not seen as the same if people are dispersed across a number of different locations, he said.
"It is a fact of life that people will continue to move from one member state to another," he said.
"It's about being proportionate. We've got to remember, this is a virus that may well be with us here in Ireland for weeks and weeks, if not months and months."
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