Levels of Covid-19 are still at a high level in the community, Northern Ireland's Chief Scientific Adviser has said.
Restrictions have been eased with most now remaining as guidance from the Department of Health and Executive, but it has been warned that Covid is still presenting pressures for the health service.
With no indication of a new variant of the virus expected in the near future, the public is being reminded of the dangers of Covid-19.
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Speaking to Belfast Live on Tuesday, Professor Ian Young said: "In the most recent week, a survey suggested that around one person in 13 had Covid that week. That is a lot. Since the restrictions were removed, we have been fluctuating at a high level. Cases haven't really gone up or down significantly and the position in hospitals has been much the same.
"We have talked about having a long tail to this wave and levels of Covid in the community are going to remain fairly high over the next few weeks."
Professor Young says he hopes that there will be a gradual decline as we move into warmer months and people may want to be outdoors more.
And at present, Prof Young says it is positive that there are less people becoming extremely sick with Covid-19, but that there are still people presenting to hospital and staying there for a number of days.
"But there are very few people in hospital who are becoming so ill that they need to go to ICU," he added.
"The numbers in Intensive Care have been down in the low single figures, although they fluctuate a little bit. If we think back to last winter, we were up over 70 - that shows a huge improvement.
"Covid is still putting our hospitals under a lot of pressure and we are acutely aware of that. One of the worries is that a lot of people are beginning to think that Covid has gone away. In fact that is not the case. If you go to any of our hospitals and ask, they would tell you a different story.
"I don't think things are likely to get worse than they are at the moment, unless there is a new variant. There is nothing in the background emerging to worry us about a new variant, but that is something we have to keep under review. None of us can say what the situation will be in three months or six months time.
"Effectively, we are into the space of living with the virus. Restrictions have gone, some guidelines remain however. People have adapted their behaviours a little bit due to awareness of the virus and we see a lot of people still wearing face coverings in indoor settings. It's good that the restrictions have gone and hopefully we can show that we can adapt to the presence of the virus."
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