There are no new cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday.
The province’s caseload is 264. In total, 259 people have recovered, and there have been three deaths due to the virus.
In total, 22,984 people have been tested. That’s an extra 274 in the last 24 hours.
Thursday’s information was distributed by the provincial government via email.
The province has two active cases, and both are in the Central Health region. One is a man who returned home to Newfoundland from Ontario. The second is a close contact of his. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald would only say that the second case is a female under the age of 20, and refused to narrow down the age range when pressed by reporters at Wednesday’s briefing.
But a family member connected to both of the active cases essentially confirmed, via a public Facebook post, that the connection was between a parent and a young child who lived in the same home.
“This morning we got more devastating news that our sweet girlie … is also positive and thankfully I’m negative and we are isolating separately as much as we can at home,” reads the post, which had been shared 900 times by Wednesday afternoon.
However, the post appeared to have been taken down by Thursday.
Fitzgerald and Health Minister John Haggie have stressed that people diagnosed with COVID-19 need to be shown compassion and not judgment.
Fitzgerald has warned that if there is stigma attached to being diagnosed with the respiratory virus, it could prevent people from getting tested and continue the spread.
Story courtesy of CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.