Those who test positive for Covid-19 using a lateral flow test, or antigen test, in Northern Ireland will no longer need a PCR test to confirm that result.
The North's Department of Health said positive lateral flow tests should be reported to trigger contact tracing processes to alert close contacts.
It comes as it emerged a further three patients who previously tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland have died, and another 7,133 positive cases of the virus have been confirmed there.
On Wednesday morning there were 403 Covid-positive patients in hospital in the North, of whom 32 were in intensive care.
The latest figures from the Department of Health follow 15 deaths and 30,423 new cases recorded on Tuesday.
The department has said all those who receive a positive lateral flow test should assume they are infectious and self-isolate immediately for the required period.
Self-isolation can be ended on day seven in the event of negative lateral flow tests on days six and seven.
Chairman of Community Pharmacy NI Peter Rice has said, however, that demand for lateral flow tests is outstripping supply. The tests can be ordered online from the government or picked up in some pharmacies.
Mr Rice said each pharmacy only gets one box of lateral flow tests per day, which in some cases can be used up within an hour of receiving it.
“We have been liaising with the Department of Health hopefully to increase the supply but, at the minute, it’s just a matter of being patient, if the public can realise that pharmacies are under significant pressure,” he said.
Recalling Stormont
Meanwhile, the North’s Assembly is to be recalled early from the Christmas recess to discuss the reopening of schools amid soaring Covid-19 case numbers.
The recall motion, which was submitted by Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan, reached the required number of 30 signatures with the backing of the SDLP.
Health Committee chairman Colm Gildernew said he has also asked if that committee can be recalled to hear from Minister of Health Robin Swann.
Earlier this week, the North's chief scientific adviser Prof Ian Young said it is likely that as many as one in 10 people in some areas have or had Covid-19 over the festive period.
Prof Young said he expects the peak of the Omicron wave to happen in the coming weeks in terms of cases and mid-late January in terms of the impact on hospitals.
Teachers’ unions have warned the return of children to the classroom after the Christmas break will lead to a further increase in transmission and that members had concerns about contact tracing as well as staffing levels.
"We are very, very keen to keep schools open, there is no question about that, open and safe, and in light of that my colleague Pat Sheehan has submitted a recall motion to the Assembly to bring the Assembly back to discuss how the issue is going to be managed in terms of schools as part of the overall picture," Mr Gildernew told BBC Radio Ulster.
“I have also asked that the Health Committee be recalled so that we can take a view from the Minister in relation to where things are at at the present time and how we are going to move forward in a way that supports staff and safeguards services.” – PA