Newfoundland and Labrador have 5 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Three of the cases are in Central Health and two are in Eastern region.
Four of the new cases are travel related, while one of the cases in Eastern is under investigation, by Public Health officials said Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald today, Friday December 18th, during the COVID-19 briefing.
One person remain in the hospital due to the virus. The total number of cases in NL is now 372.
Two new recoveries were also reported, bringing the total number of recoveries to 341 with 4 deaths since the pandemic hit the province. There are 27 active cases.
Health Minister John Haggie said higher daily numbers of cases is expected as people return to the province this time of the year, but that’s not a reason to be complacent.
“The concern for our point of view is that everyone follows the rules of quarantine and listens to Dr. Janice Fitzgerald advice.”
Haggie says the province has received a vaccine delivery schedule from Pfizer-BioNTech, and there will be another shipment to take the province through until the new year.
The Health Minister said Moderna, says whose vaccine is waiting for approval by Health Canada, is changing some restrictions on how its vaccine can be transported to make it easier to ship to rural areas.
In total 69,461 people have been tested, that’s an increase of 663 in the last day, the second-highest single-day total since testing began.