Five N.L. COVID-19 patients in hospital, more swabs sent to outside labs for analysis

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -

Public health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador say there are now five people in hospital due to COVID-19 as the province has logged another 750 cases.

The government said in a news release today 427 of the new infections were diagnosed in the previous 24 hours.

Officials say the remaining 323 came from a batch of tests sent to outside labs between Dec. 29 and Jan. 6, when a surge in infections overwhelmed the province's own test-processing capacities, and 1,300 more were sent out on Monday.

Newfoundland and Labrador is among many Canadian jurisdictions to limit the availability of PCR tests, and the numbers reported today do not include residents who may have COVID-19 but no longer qualify for PCR testing.

Of the 6,211 known active infections in the province, 1,168 are in the Labrador-Grenfell Health area, which means about three per cent of the region's population is currently infected with the disease.

Health Minister John Haggie told reporters on Monday that more than 50 per cent of people in that area had received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of last Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2022.