Covid-19: 17 deaths and 640 new cases in Northern Ireland 

A couple walk past a shop window in the UK.

There have been 640 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours.

There have also been 17 further deaths, four of which are outside the 24 hour period.

There are currently 427 patients with the virus in the North's hospitals.

30 patients with the virus are in ICU.

The figures come as Irish ambulances have gone across the border this weekend to help their colleagues in the North.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has earlier confirmed help will be provided but he said that services here would not be affected.

The HSE says the National Ambulance Service was contacted by their counterparts in Northern Ireland for assistance and several volunteer teams responded, agreeing to help in areas of Belfast, Craigavon and Lisburn across the weekend.

Tonight in Belfast, crews from the Irish National Ambulance Service working alongside colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. People's health taking priority #TeamWork #Proud @AmbulanceNAS @NIAS999 @HSELive #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/PIpcYFihA2

— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) December 18, 2020

On Tuesday, queues of ambulances were witnessed at accident and emergency departments (EDs) across Northern Ireland as patients were treated in car parks due to a lack of capacity inside hospitals.

At one point, 17 ambulances containing patients were lined up outside the ED at Antrim Area Hospital.