NHW director David Ford, speaking in an online address, said work was also under way on the medical ward and paediatric ward.

But Mr Ford urged patients to get warm clothes if they could manage it before they approached the emergency department.

"One of the great challenges we're facing at the moment is trying to rebuild the emergency department in the middle of winter but also in the middle of a global pandemic," he said.

"There are challenges about how the community come into the emergency department. People will come into the driveway of the old emergency department but we have to make sure that people are tested for COVID.

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"The only way we can do that is to triage people outside but it's cold so if you come in to the ED we recommend you wear something warm, so we have to test people outside and once the test is done we can decide which part of the hospital they need to go to.

"We have put in heaters to keep the area warm - we understand this is far less than ideal but it's what we have to go through to get to the end of this project.

""People need to wait outside for a little while, while we do the appropriate tests to make sure patients are safe and our staff are safe."

Mr Ford said NHW had finished demolishing the old emergency department on the corner of Green Street and Cusack Street and had poured the slab.

He said the new area would create an additional six treatment spaces, consulting spaces, and a behavioural assessment room.

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