A proposal from the health minister to extend all Coronavirus restrictions in NI for one more week has been blocked by the DUP.
The party supports a partial reopening of some sectors from Friday.
The Executive has been meeting throughout the day in a bid to break the political stalemate that has developed.
The current regulations will expire at midnight on Thursday.
Mr Swann had warned his ministerial colleagues that doing nothing needs to be avoided at all costs, and that some mitigations must be retained.
The DUP had proposed its own paper that would have allowed close contact services and unlicensed premises to reopen from Friday.
It is understood this plan was voted down by a majority of ministers.
The executive then voted on Mr Swann’s latest proposal, which fell after the DUP triggered a cross-community vote, effectively giving them a veto over the plan.
His original proposal calling for a two-week extension was blocked by the DUP on Tuesday.
Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance had previously said they would support a two-week extension of all restrictions.
It is the third day in a row that the executive has wrangled over the plans, with no agreement reached despite talks lasting into the early hours of Wednesday.
It is understood that the new health proposals, seen by BBC News NI, argue that extending the measures for another week would give the executive a window to return to other proposals in the coming days.
The regulations saw much of Northern Ireland’s economy placed under tight measures on 16 October.
The Department of Health reported eight further coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, with 791 more people testing positive for the virus.
One of those died in the Western Trust area.
The DUP had earlier accused Sinn Féin of “performing a somersault” and changing its position on the extension of Covid-19 restrictions.
Education Minister Peter Weir made the claim ahead of the executive meeting.
Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the “executive’s approach must be guided by public health advice because the priority must be to save lives”.
Mr Weir claimed Sinn Féin had changed its stance over relaxing restrictions and claimed inter-party agreement could have been reached “earlier”.
He said that he hoped the executive could come to a decision on Wednesday.
“I think people want certainty and I hope there can be a sensible compromise that can be reached,” he added.
“It’s important to stress that poverty can kill as well as Covid-19.”
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