None of these cases are concerning in the case of onward transmission,’ according to Chief Medical Health Officer

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — On Wednesday, the first day of COVID-19 vaccinations in the province, Newfoundland and Labrador was reporting five new cases of the virus, but while that number is higher than what we have seen in daily updates in recent months, the province’s Chief Medical Health Officer says there is no reason for concern.
“It’s not unusual that you will see a small jump in cases,” said Dr. Janice Fitzgerald during Wednesday’s provincial COVID-19 update. “What you have to remember is that our (population) numbers are small, so if you have more than one (new case), it seems like a lot.”

All five of the cases revealed Wednesday — four in the Eastern Health region and one in Central Health region — are travel related.

“None of these cases are concerning in the case of onward transmission,” said Fitzgerald. “People (involved) are isolating and people are following the rules.

“There’s no more concern because there are five (new cases) today.”

Two of the new cases in the Eastern Health region are a man and a woman, both between 20-30, who are not residents of Newfoundland and Labrador and who came to the province from Asia. Because of these particular cases, Public Health says it is asking passengers who travelled on Air Canada 696 from Toronto to St. John’s, arriving this past Sunday, to call 811 to arrange testing.

One of the other cases from the Eastern Health region involves a male under 20 who is also not a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador and also came to the province from Asia. There was no information on whether the case was connected to that of the other two travellers from Asia.

The fourth confirmed case in the Eastern Health region is a man between 50-59 years who returned to the province from work in Alberta.

The case in the Central Health region also involved a man — in this instance, between 20 and 39 — who returned to the province from work in Alberta.

As Dr. Fitzgerald noted, all five are self-isolating and contact-tracing is underway.

Meanwhile, there have been two recoveries, one in Eastern Health and one in Western Health, increasing the total recoveries in this province to 337 people.

There have been four COVID-19 related deaths in Newfoundland and Labrador since the start of the pandemic.

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