Province sees 15 new cases
New travel alerts issued as Western Health tests students, staff of school
Newfoundland and Labrador logged 15 new cases of
COVID-19 on Tuesday, the most cases in one day since Feb. 23 when the province was at Level 5 lockdown to deal with an outbreak in the St. John’s region.
However, all but two of the cases are directly related to travel, with the others a contact of a known case. There is no evidence of community spread.
Six of the cases are in the Eastern Health region, four are in Central and five are in the Western region.
There are now 77 active cases in the province, with one person in hospital. Only one active case remains in the Labrador-grenfell region.
Public Health has issued additional travel alerts as a result of the new cases. Anyone who was on any of the following flights should either go online to gov.nl/ covid-19 or call 811 to arrange testing.
• Air Canada Flight 678 that departed from Montreal, Que., and arrived in St. John’s on Friday, May 7.
• Westjet Flight 3422 that departed from Halifax and arrived in St. John’s on Friday, May 7.
• Air Canada Flight 7542 that departed from Toronto on Friday, May 7 and arrived in Deer Lake on Saturday, May 8.
• Air Canada Flight 678 that departed from Montreal and arrived in St. John’s on Saturday, May 8.
• Air Canada Flight 7542 that departed from Toronto on Saturday, May 8 and arrived in Deer Lake on Sunday, May 9.
• Air Canada Flight 8016 that departed from Montreal and arrived in St. John’s on Sunday, May 9.
“While we understand the recent increase in COVID-19 cases is concerning, it is not unexpected given the epidemiology elsewhere in the country,” the Department of Health said in a news release. “We are seeing increased travel into the province. We encourage those travelling to the province, as well as their families, to make themselves aware of the public health guidelines and to follow the appropriate isolation protocols.”
STUDENTS, STAFF TESTED
Meanwhile, Western Health has asked students, teachers and staff of Belanger Memorial to get tested for COVID-19 whether or not they are symptomatic.
The action is being taken because of a recent presumptive positive case of a student who goes to the Codroy Valley all-grade school.
Presumptive positive cases are determined by rapid test kits, and the case in question was subsequently confirmed through a PCR test.
Dr. Monika Dutt, medical officer for Western and Central Health, said the step was taken out of an abundance of caution.
“In any investigation, when there is a child of school age, we determine if they might have been in school in a time when they might have been infectious, and so in this situation we did note that this person may have been in school while they were infectious, so we started initially with their close class,” Dutt said Tuesday afternoon.
So far, she said, there are no cases in the region that haven’t been linked to travel or to a known case.
“Every day, as we get more information, if we do get an indication that we do have to test more broadly, we’d absolutely do that,” she said. “But in this situation, there hasn’t been that indication yet.”
BOOKING
To arrange testing, the health authority asks individuals to complete the online selfassessment and referral tool or call 811. When asked “do you require a COVID-19 test as a result of an advisory from Public Health? (e.g., a flight or a public place connected to a COVID-19 case),” select “Yes.” When entering your demographics, answer “Yes” to the question, “are you involved in the Belanger Memorial Investigation?”
Following the completion of the online self-assessment or call to 811, residents will be contacted to book an appointment time. A temporary drive-up testing site was available Tuesday, and will be again today, at St. Ann’s Centre in Codroy Valley.
All individuals with symptoms are advised to isolate. Individuals who do not have symptoms do not need to isolate unless they have been advised to do so by Public Health.
Final results are usually available within 24 hours.
Everyone is reminded to follow public health measures, including wearing masks, staying home when sick, practising good hand hygiene, staying home as much as possible unless necessary for work and other essential activities, and following provincial public health requirements and recommendations.