Today, Wednesday, February 16, Newfoundland and Labrador has 179 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the last update on February 15. Anyone who has tested positive must follow guidelines. Cases are advised to notify contacts as per instructions on the website.
There are 16 people in hospital because of COVID-19, 10 in non-critical care and six in critical care. There have been 176 new recoveries – 120 in the Eastern Health region, 24 in the Central Health region, 12 in the Western Health region and 20 in the Labrador-Grenfell region, and 18,985 people have recovered.
The breakdown of the 179 cases are as follows:
• Eastern Health region – 113
• Central Health region – 20
• Western Health region – 34
• Labrador-Grenfell Health region – 12
There are currently 1,696 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the active cases are as follows:
• Eastern Health – 1,224
• Central Health – 150
• Labrador-Grenfell Health – 104
• Western Health – 218
A total of 869 tests were completed since yesterday, and to date, 498,253 tests have been administered.
Newfoundland and Labrador are reporting its 58th, 59th, and 60th deaths from COVID-19. The individuals are all males over 80 years of age, one in the Eastern Health region and two in the Central Health region. The department is sending its condolences to the families of these individuals and asks everyone to respect the families’ privacy at this time.
Newfoundland and Labrador will put an END to its COVID-19 restrictions by March 14th, including capacity limitations, masking, and proof of vaccine requirements.
Leading up to March 14th, there will be a continued easing of restrictions.
Effective at 12:01am on February 21st:
• Informal gatherings can increase to 25 people;
• Faith based gatherings 75% (with vax pass), or 50% without Vaxpass;
• No changes in other formal gatherings limits;
• Gyms, Restaurants can operate up to 75%;
• Sports can participate in out of region competition, but only 1 game a day (no tournaments);
• Retail stores no restrictions; and,
• No changes to bars, theatres, will remain at 50%.
All border control and travel restrictions will be dropped on February 28th, and rapid testing will be voluntary.