N.L. reports seven more COVID-19 deaths; Labrador town stays closed to curb outbreak

Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 are seen at LifeLabs after being logged upon receipt at the company's lab, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 26, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -

COVID-19 has killed seven more people in Newfoundland and Labrador, bringing the total number of pandemic-related deaths in the province to 110.

Numbers posted to the province's online COVID-19 dashboard indicate there are 40 patients hospitalized because of the disease, including 11 in intensive care.

Officials are reporting 920 new confirmed COVID-19 cases since Monday.

Public buildings remain closed today in the Labrador community of Makkovik, along the region's north coast, in an effort to curb an outbreak of the disease.

The mayor of the Inuit community, Barry Andersen, says he closed public facilities so the town's small health-care team wouldn't be overrun with COVID-19 patients.

He said in an interview today there is one permanent nurse in the community of about 380 people and another health-care worker has been flown in to help out.

Makkovik is about 212 kilometres north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L., and only accessible by plane in the winter. Andersen says there's bad weather in the forecast for the next few days, which means it could be tough to medically evacuate someone out of the community.

"We do have people, obviously, in the community who have diabetes, asthma, heart conditions, you name it," he said. "All those factors play into the decision to close down."

The town's school remains open, but only four of about 65 students were present for class on Monday.

"The cases that are here don't seem to be too severe," Andersen said. "People are getting quite ill but not requiring any hospitalizations."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2022.