Today, Friday, October 29, Newfoundland and Labrador has eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the last public advisory. Contact tracing by Public Health is underway and anyone considered a close contact has been advised regarding quarantine according to current guidelines.

In the Eastern Health region:

· Three under 20 years of age; and
· Two between 20-39 years of age.

There are three females and two males and all cases are contacts of previously known cases.

In the Central Health region:

· One between 20-39 years of age;
· One between 50-59 years of age; and
· One 70 years of age and older.

There is one female and two males and all cases are contacts of previously known cases.

There have been 10 new recoveries, six in the Eastern Health region and four in the Central Health region and 1,870 people have recovered. There is one person in hospital because of COVID-19.

There are currently 99 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the active cases is as follows:

· Eastern Health – 84
· Central Health – 12
· Labrador-Grenfell Health – 0
· Western Health – 3

To date, 334,272 tests have been administered.

Yesterday the Nunatsiavut Government released a report examining the land claim and assertions of Inuit identity of the Nunatukavut Community Council (NCC). Recently, the Nunatsiavut Government released a statement declaring that it does not recognize the NCC proposed land claim and has come to the conclusion that the NCC has not established that it is a collective entitled to Inuit rights.

Because of existing concerns about the NCC land claim, and the significant issues seen in the NCC report “Unveiling NunatuKavut”, the Nunatsiavut Government contracted a researcher to complete an analysis. The subsequent report forms one pillar of the Nunatsiavut Government’s review process. It illustrates a range of inconsistencies in “Unveiling NunatuKavut” and supports the Nunatsiavut Government’s assessment that while they are likely members of the NCC in south-central Labrador who have Indigenous ancestry or backgrounds, the nature and scale of the NCC’s claims aren’t supported by the evidence it brought forward.

We will be speaking with President Lampe later in the program to hear what he has to say.

The 5th Annual Memorial Grace Iris Miriam Jararuse Flowers Ball Hockey Tournament will be going ahead next weekend.

It will take place at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre in Nain.

The 12 and under division will be starting off on Friday, November 5th.

On Saturday, November 6th will be Female division, and Men’s division 13 and up.

For players ages 1 year and older will be needing the vaccination pass to enter, players 12 to 18 years won’t need the vaccination pass to enter, and spectators 12 years and older will need their vaccination pass.

The Nain Youth Centre held a Haunted House yesterday, October 28th.

Kim Oliver is the Regional Youth Service Manager with the Department of Health and Social Development.

She says that they were busy for an hour and a half and got a lot of people going through the haunted house.

They raised a total of $110 in donations and the money will go towards Nain Care.

Oliver would like to thank the staff and youth that planned and help set up the haunted house and thank everyone who attended and donating for a wonderful organization.

The Base Camp at Torngat National Park was closed 2020-2021 due to the pandemic but has been re-opened for bookings for the 2022 season.

Sarah Leo is the Chief Operating Officer for Nunatsiavut Group of Companies, which operates the site with Air Borealis and Parks Canada.

She says obviously it has been very disappointing that they were not able to invite guests into the Torngats and share the experience with them.

Leo says while awaiting guests they have been working on to upgrade cosmetic aspects and visitor capacity at the Base Camp, 700 kilometers from Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The Groups is also working on the implement COVID-19 protocols said Travis Barbour, Managing Director of Air Borealis.

Barbour says we are all aware of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ll definitely be keeping our eye for the public health guidelines and advisories from the communities.

He says this is not new for us now. There is a lot of new things coming but were just keeping up with how to provide a safe environment for our guests.

CBC news.

Happy Halloween to everybody in Nunatsiavut.

Tabea Murphy is an elder from Nain; she has information about how Halloween started in Nain.

She says it was back in the days when she used to go to the United States, she first saw people in costumes dressed for Halloween.

When she came back to Labrador, she started dressing her two girls for Halloween.

Murphy says she used to dress her girls with her dresses or their grandmother’s clothing.

Murphy says later on, people started to order their costumes from Sears or Eaton’s catalogues.

Stay tuned to our Sunday Program on Halloween Day to hear Murphy’s story on how it all started in Nunatsiavut.

Please note that this story was previously aired in 2013 where late Maria Harris did the interview with Murphy.

The famous Twin Flames will be coming to Nunatsiavut to perform soon.

We spoke with performers, Jaaji Okpik and Chelsea June.

They said they recently did an East Coast Tour, ending in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and will be coming to the North coast.

Okpik and June adds that they will also be selling some t-shirts and CD’s when coming to our communities.

Tune in to our Teen Rockers show to hear more from Okpik and Chelsea on their previous and upcoming tours.

The Northern Lights Academy in Rigolet is celebrating Halloween by having spirit week.

Steve Brazil is the principal in Northern Lights Academy.

Brazil says the student council planned the spirit week.

Today, October 28th is dress as a twin day.

Tomorrow Friday, October 29th, everyone can dress up into their costume.

The school also got some contests throughout the week such as coloring contest and door decorating.

The 5th Annual Memorial Grace Iris Miriam Jararuse Flowers Ball Hockey Tournament will be going ahead next weekend.

It will take place at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre in Nain.

The 12 and under division will be starting off on Friday, November 5th.

On Saturday, November 6th will be Female division, and Men’s division 13 and up.

For players ages 1 year and older will be needing the vaccination pass to enter, players 12 to 18 years won’t need the vaccination pass to enter, and spectators 12 years and older will need their vaccination pass.

The city of Iqaluit says an old underground spill is likely responsible for fuel that is contaminating the communities tap water.

City officials released news on Tuesday that they found signs of historic spill next to the water treatment plant in an inaccessible hole in the ground.

The capitals water has been undrinkable even if boiled since October 12, when traces of fuel were found in the plant.

The city of about 8,000 people has been in the state of emergency since then and thousands of bottled water had been flown in. Testing is now being done to confirm the spill is the source of contamination.

The city has reported to Nunavut Government and hired a professional firm to clean it up. A site remediation plan is also on the way.

There is still no timeline for when the city residents will be able to drink their tap water again.

The Canadian Armed Forces arrived in Iqaluit last weekend to help with ongoing emergency.

The military has said it will set up reverse osmosis water purification units in the city but is still in the process of testing water of proposed sites.