N.L. expands public health restrictions, reports 45 new COVID-19 cases as cluster grows
Newfoundland and Labrador reported 45 new COVID-19 cases Friday -- the highest daily number of new infections in the province since Feb. 19, when an outbreak in St. John's delayed the provincial election.
The province's acting chief medical officer of health said a cluster that began in a personal care home in Baie Verte, N.L., on the northeast coast, has spread to neighbouring communities.
Public health is asking residents not to travel into and out of the affected region -- which now includes the town Twillingate, N.L., and the surrounding area -- unless it's absolutely necessary, Dr. Rosann Seviour told reporters.
"The fourth wave unfortunately has reached our shores," Seviour said. "We have stared down the face of COVID before, and we will do it again."
There were 109 active reported COVID-19 infections in the province -- a number Health Minister John Haggie on Friday called "a threshold we had hoped we wouldn't see again." Seventy of those active cases are connected to the outbreak in the Baie Verte area, and 21 of those infections are breakthrough cases -- or infections affecting people who were fully vaccinated, Seviour said.
Vaccination rates on the province's northeast coast are low, she noted, with just over 70 per cent of eligible residents fully immunized. By contrast, nearly 80 per cent of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians had two doses of vaccine as of Tuesday, government data shows. With the Delta variant fuelling the outbreak, those numbers simply are not high enough, Seviour said.
"Delta is a different beast," she said, adding that the vaccination rate needed to stave off outbreaks is higher with the Delta variant because it is so much more transmissible. "It has been an eye-opener across this country."
There are active COVID-19 infections at four schools across the province, including 10 cases at an all-grades school near Summerford, N.L., where in-person learning was suspended, officials said.
Heightened public health measures restricting social gatherings and household bubbles will expand from the Baie Verte peninsula to Twillingate and surrounding communities at midnight Friday night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
'It was joy': Trapped B.C. orca calf eats seal meat, putting rescue on hold
A rescue operation for an orca calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon off Vancouver Island has been put on hold after it started eating seal meat thrown in the water for what is believed to be the first time.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
B.C. judge orders shared dog custody for exes who both 'clearly love Stella'
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a B.C. judge has awarded a former couple joint custody of their dog.
Saskatoon police to search landfill for remains of woman missing since 2020
Saskatoon police say they will begin searching the city’s landfill for the remains of Mackenzie Lee Trottier, who has been missing for more than three years.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.