Health Minister Robin Swann told BBC's Talkback that people who failed to adhere to social distancing advice were "selfish".

He said enforced social distancing is likely to be introduced soon.

Read more here.

Justice Minister Naomi Long has warned people would face fines of up to £100,000 if they do not comply with the government’s new measures to tackle coronavirus.

The fines are included in the emergency coronavirus bill going through Westminster, which will apply to all of the UK.

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“If people don’t care that they might be endangering their own elderly relatives, perhaps that in itself will bring to attention how serious this is," she told MLAs.

"People need to get real. I applaud those who are doing the right thing and who are using their influence to get others to do the right thing.”

The health minister says urgent action is needed on social distancing because of the speed that the coronavirus is moving at.

Asked if we could be looking at a UK lockdown at midnight on Monday Robin Swann replied "we could be moving at that speed".

Image source, pacemaker

"I think if we move quickly enough to start to enforce the social isolation that we need to see in Northern Ireland, that we need to see in the rest of the UK, we have a chance of slowing down the infection rate.

"It's about bringing down the peak."

Stuart Dallas asks followers to "sacrifice these next number of months" in order to save lives.

Primark's 189 UK stores have closed "until further notice", as demand drops due to social-distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

It has already shut stores elsewhere and says it wanted to protect the health of employees and customers., external

Image source, Getty Images

The fashion chain's boss, Paul Marchant, says it faces "unprecedented, and frankly unimaginable times".

A Primark spokesperson says that any staff affected by store closures would receive full pay for their contracted hours for 14 days.

Read more here.

Health Minister Robin Swann tells Talkback that enforcement of social distancing - an effective lockdown - could be announced later on Monday and come into effect on Tuesday.

He adds that it was likely to include the closure of "non-essential shops" in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Swann says people were "not seriously weighing up the seriousness of the situation we are currently in".

Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political reporter

The assembly has supported a move to suspend question time for executive ministers.

It had been proposed by the speaker and the business committee, in light of the escalating Covid-19 crisis.

It means ministers will not appear to take oral questions from MLAs until 13 May.

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TUV leader Jim Allister criticised the move, saying he recognised these were “unprecedented times” but that MLAs were required to scrutinise the executive.

He says the Welsh and Scottish assemblies, as well as Westminster, would still be holding question time.

The Speaker Alex Maskey says he was encouraging ministers to appear more regularly to make statements, and that the decision to suspend question time will be reviewed at the end of April.

BBC NI health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly tells Talkback that enforcing social distancing would be an extreme measure.

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However, she adds: "If we don't practise these basic rules of social distancing and self-isolating, our hospitals in about three or four weeks time could be experiencing similar scenes as we have been seeing in Italy and Spain.

"If you do what's right you can protect not only yourself but your family."

Now this is the sort of public message we can all get behind...

The PSNI is warning people "to be on their guard against cold callers and scammers" who are trying to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis.

Ch Supt Simon Walls says: “We have seen instances where people are calling to the homes of older, or vulnerable people, telling them they will do their grocery shopping for them for a small fee.

"These people take the money but, cruelly, they never deliver the goods."

Image source, PSNI

Mr Walls adds: “I’m making a direct appeal to friends and loved ones of older people, or those who are vulnerable in our communities to please, take a few minutes and have a conversation with them about what they can do to help protect themselves and their homes.

“There are a number of initiatives which are really helpful, including the ‘No Cold Calling’, the ‘Nominated Neighbour’ scheme, QuickCheck, Neighbourhood Watch and ScamwiseNI Partnership and details of all of these can be found on our website at psni.co.uk."

BBC News NI's health correspondent is on Talkback giving us a rundown of the key public health advice.

"Everyone now is being told to social distance, especially the over 70s, pregnant women, normally all those people who are eligible for a flu jab - I think that's a good benchmark," she says.

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"And we can't say this often enough - wash your hands.

You have to really scrub - if you imagine what a surgeon does before they go into an operating theatre they are so clean they get down into the creases, into the wrists. We have to do that too."

More on those covid assessment centres now, as the British Medical Association (BMA) says it will "very rapidly establish ‘Covid centres’" in each health trust area across Northern Ireland.

In a post on their website, the BMA said the centres would be staffed by GPs and support staff who would use their "unique skillset" to help manage the anticipated large numbers of patients.

Image source, Getty Images

The centres will move face-to-face assessments for potential coronavirus infections out of practices, helping to slow the spread of the virus.

It will also help practices remain open for triage and non-Covid consultations.

In the letter sent to all GPs in NI, the BMA says Northern Ireland faces "the greatest threat since it’s creation in 1922".

Chair of the British Medical Association, Dr Tom Black, says a Covid-19 centre is due to open in Londonderry this week.

Dr Tom Black told BBC Radio Foyle that a centre to assess suspected coronavirus cases will be set up at the out-of-hours Western Urgent Care building at Altnagelvin Hospital.

"Each practice will talk to their own patients and if you think they are at risk of Covid-19, you send them to the Covid Centre, were they will be assessed by GPs," he says.

Dr Black told the programme that GPs at the centre will be wearing protective gear and they will then decide whether the patient will be sent home or refer them to hospital.

He said the centre in Derry will hopefully be open and operational by Wednesday.

High street pharmacy chains say they will be removing all make-up product testers from stores for the foreseeable future, to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

The virus is carried in cough droplets and on objects contaminated with them.

Sample lipsticks, eyeliners and other beauty products which can be tried on by lots of different customers are too risky to leave on display, say Boots and Superdrug.

They say stores will act immediately.

Read more here.

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political correspondent

Police plans to deal with the coronavirus crisis have been outlined to the justice committee, including special powers to return people to isolation if they are deemed a risk by health authorities.

Plans are also being considered to recruit retired officers and employ officers from the part-time reserve.

MLAs were told there are no plans to call in military support.

Image source, Pacemaker

Other measures being proposed include changes to inquests, which will remove the requirement for jurys to examine deaths caused by Covid-19.

Under the new measures deaths from natural causes will no longer have to be reported to the coroner as long as a doctor can sign the death certificate and state cause of death to the best of their ability.

The moves are aimed at ensuring coroners do not become overburdened by any upsurge in Covid-19 deaths.

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political correspondent

The justice committee hears that some prisoners in Northern Ireland could be released early under new emergency legislation to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Officials told members that only those prisoners who would have previously qualified for early release will be eligible to be freed under the new laws.

Prisoners convicted of terrorist offences, sex offences or domestic violence will not qualify for release under the emergency legislation which is expected to pass through Westminster this week.

The Department of Justice will decide who will be eligible and those freed will be on licence and will be supervised by the probation service.

Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political correspondent

Stormont officials are "actively" trying to increase the capacity to store more bodies in Northern Ireland to cope with an upsurge in coronavirus deaths.

MLAs have been told that at present up to 280 bodies can be stored until burials or cremations can be faciliated.

The details were revealed as part of a death management plan outlined to Stormont's justice committee.

An official says the priority was on being able to speed up the process to ensure Northern Ireland can cope with any increased demand for burials and cremations.