LIVE UPDATES Coronavirus NI: Ten more deaths with COVID-19 and 679 new infections - Multiple cases of COVID-19 reported at NI church - place of worship closed for several weeks

This means there have now been 740 deaths in Northern Ireland with Coronavirus.

And another 679 cases of the virus have been confirmed in NI in the last 24 hours.

The latest dashboard also reveals that there are now 50 people fighting for their lives in ICU - with a total of 418 patients in our hospitals with confirmed COVID-19.

The reports from the Department of Health come after reports of ‘as many as 50 cases of COVID-19’ at a NI church - which has closed the facility down for several weeks.

The cases have been based around the Hebron Free Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney, Co Antrim.

It has been reported that the church on Market street in the NI town has been closed for two weeks towards the end of last month because of the outbreak

But Church minister Reverend David Park said he is unable to confirm the exact number of members who have contracted the disease, but did say there are several.

Rev Park said that decisive action was taken to close the church immediately the outbreak was detected and the building has since undergone a deep clean in line with government guidelines.

Earlier it emerged that researchers in the US have created a model that can identify people with COVID-19 with 98.5% accuracy based on their cough.

According to reports, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have now developed an AI that can detect people infected with COVID-19 by another of its primary symptoms: The cough.

The virus causes a persistent cough and there is evidence that it can change the way you make sound even if you don’t show symptoms.

The news comes as medical leaders in Northern Ireland have call for “breathing space”, as the rise in Covid-19 cases places increasing pressure on health services.

In a joint statement, the Royal Colleges of Surgeons, General Practitioners and Physicians said they are “extremely concerned”.

They urged people to follow public health advice on social distancing, hand-washing and wearing face masks.

Trusts are understood to be escalating plans to deal with the surge.

The joint appeal from three royal colleges was issued as the latest data from the Department of Health showed hospitals are operating close to capacity, with 96% of all hospital beds in Northern Ireland occupied.

The department’s Covid statistics dashboard also showed that 51 of Northern Ireland’s 120 intensive care unit (ICU) beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients on Tuesday.

A further 54 ICU beds were occupied by patients with other conditions, meaning there were just 15 available.

All six of Northern Ireland’s health trusts and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service are under strain due to the extra pressures of the pandemic, and are close to substantially reducing routine surgery as a result.