To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) any discussions he has had with the UK government regarding the possible ramifications of the mutations of the COVID-19 virus; and (ii) the number and locations of incidences of genetically-mutated versions of the virus seen in Northern Ireland.

My officials continue to engage with their counterparts in the Department of Health & Social Care in respect of the latest available evidence and most appropriate response following the identification of new variants of the Covid-19 virus.

The available data would suggest that the new variant is accounting for an increasing share of the identified Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland.

However, this assessment is subject to a high degree of uncertainty at the present time as it is based on a proxy indicator identified during the testing process and the currently available results of genome sequencing of a small number of samples that are not representative of the overall population.