COVID-19 will unfortunately still be with us for some time.

Megan Hudson is the Public Health Nurse for the Nain Department of Health and Social Development.

She shares with us information on how we will be moving forward and learning to live with the virus.

If you are infected with COVID-19, you will still need to isolate based on your vaccination status until you are no longer contagious.

Hudson adds that youth ages 5-17 are eligible to receive 2 doses of the vaccine, and individuals 18 years and older require 2 doses, as well as a booster shot after 6 months of receiving the second dose.

Click here to find out more from Hudson on the protocols for testing.

Newfoundland and Labrador has 582 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, March 11. On Thursday, March 10, there were 680 new cases.

Today (Friday, March 11) there are 22 people in hospital because of COVID-19, 17 in non-critical care and five in critical care.

There have been 428 new recoveries since yesterday – 272 in the Eastern Health region, 93 in the Central Health region, 45 in the Western Health region and 18 in the Labrador-Grenfell region, and 25,162 people have recovered.

The breakdown of the 582 cases for today is as follows:

Eastern Health region – 446
Central Health region – 70
Western Health region – 49
Labrador-Grenfell Health region – 17

There are currently 4,105 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the active cases is as follows:

Eastern Health – 3,202
Central Health – 395
Labrador-Grenfell Health – 100
Western Health – 408

A total of 3,926 tests were completed since Wednesday. To date, 528,651 tests have been administered.

As you may all know, there is an artist studio here in Nain.

John Terriak is the owner of the artist studio.

He says there isn’t any limitations for the studio and everyone is welcome.

Right now, he is working on Montreal Canadian copper, gold and silvering, Labradorite, copper glass, and also cutting stone.

They are open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 11:30am, and on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 1:30pm to 4pm.

So, if anyone is interested in making any craft, you can call Terriak at 922-2045 or stop by the studio.

The Opposition PC’s are not letting up their demand immediate action to soften the blow of rising fuel prices.

Finance critic Tony Wakeham says the Liberal is lagging behind other provinces when it comes to dealing with increasing high cost of living.

He notes Prince Edward Island provides a payment to low-income families having problems making ends meet. Alberta is meanwhile slashing the gas tax to offset the cost of living.

But somehow, says Wakeham Premier Furey there’s nothing government can to right now to help Wakeham insists there are things the province can do, but they won’t bend.

A couple days ago, Furey urged residents to “stay tuned”, suggestions government is working on relief from the high cost of living, which will likely be announced on April 7 budget.

MHAs will sit for the spring session of the House of Assembly starting Tuesday, March 15th, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.

The public gallery will be open to full capacity for the spring sitting, but proof of vaccination and masks will be required.

Budget day is April 7th, 2022.

Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are reminded that Daylight Saving Time will begin at 2am on Sunday, March 13th, time must be set to one hour ahead.

When adjusting clocks, residents are encouraged to take the opportunity to change the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

Smoke alarms are required to be installed in the following areas of a residence:

• On every level of your home, including the basement;
• In every bedroom; and
• In the hallway or room outside of every bedroom or separate sleeping area.

It is recommended that each dwelling unit or cabin that has a wood, oil or propane fuel-fired appliance also have a carbon monoxide detector installed on each level of the structure.

Public health officials continue to stress that it is likely the virus that causes COVID-19 will continue to present itself in all Labrador Inuit communities, and that activity may or may not be documented or reported. Residents have to assume the virus is present and to continue to follow all public health protocols.

Since the last update on March 7, new COVID-19 activity has been confirmed in the communities of Nain, Postville and Rigolet. All cases are isolating.

Cases identified previously in the community of Makkovik has since recovered. There are no known cases in any other Labrador Inuit community at this time.

Individuals with symptoms, with no known exposure to the virus, should contact 811 or complete the online assessment tool at COVID Assessment and Referrals to determine if testing is required.

We also have the COVID-19 Update for Voisey’s from yesterday March 10.

There are 29 (plus 13 since last update) confirmed active cases of COVID-19 in Voisey’s Bay. There are 47 (plus 34 since last update) close contacts in isolation.

All positive cases and close contacts are in isolation.

Please note that these numbers for site employees are accurate and are submitted to provincial public health.

The next update will be on Monday, March 14.

The community of Postville will be holding their Winter Active Week later this month.

Joan Broomfield is one of the organizers for this event.

She says that they will be starting their activities on the evening of March 21st, with snowshoe walking.

Broomfield adds every year they do this walk with young and old participating, using the same route from the airport road to the office.

Click here to find out more from Broomfield on this event.

OKâlaKatiget Radio contacted community freezers in the five Inuit communities to see what they have to offer.

The Hopedale community freezer has moose meat.

The community freezer in Nain has moose meat and moose sausages.

There is also moose meat at the Rigolet community freezer, and char in Makkovik.

We will get the Postville Community Freezer once it becomes available.

The Nunatsiavut Government is asking any interested Labrador Inuit to have a recorded interview about the areas North of Nain, such as the Torngat Mountains.

They would love to hear about any Inuit Legends, experiences with spirits, stories about living on the land, traditional food, and hunting.

The interviews will be used to produce short videos and booklets about Inuit legends and traditional living stories about the Torngat Mountains.

They may be used for the Torngat Mountains Basecamp, the Youth Leadership Program, Torngat Mountains National Park, in the schools within Nunatsiavut, language programming, and programming at the Illusuak Cultural Centre.

If you, or someone you know might be interested, please contact Nicola Burke at nicola.burke@nunatsiavut.com or call 922-2942 ext. 256.