Today, Friday, August 20, Newfoundland and Labrador has two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the last public advisory.

The first new confirmed case is a female in the Eastern Health region between 50-59 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.

The second new confirmed case is a female in the Eastern Health region between 50-59 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.

Contact tracing by Public Health is underway and anyone considered a close contact has been advised to quarantine.

There are no new recoveries in the province, 1,430 people have recovered, and there is no one in hospital due to COVID-19.

There are currently 14 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

The regional breakdown of the active cases are as follows:

· Eastern Health – 13
· Central Health – 0
· Labrador-Grenfell Health – 1
· Western Health – 0

To date, 267,158 tests have been administered.

On Sunday, August 15th, 2021, a bravery award was presented to a resident from Nain at the closing ceremony for the 250th celebrations.

Lela Evans, the MHA for the Torngat Mountains District came to Nain to present an award to Shawn Solomon from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Evans reads, “The bravery award is one of 3 honors in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s honor system; the other two awards would be the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Order of the Newfoundland Volunteer Award Service Medal.”

Stay tuned to our Sunday Program on August 22nd to hear the presentation of the bravery award that was held last weekend.

Congratulations Shawn Solomon!

The Afterschool Program will be starting up again soon for this school year.

Gwen Dyson is the Afterschool Program Advisor for the Nain Inuit Community Government.

She says people can sign up on September 7, 2021 at 6pm at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre, and the program starts on September 8th with the age group of 5-7.

They usually have 15 children in the age group of 5-7’s, and 15 of children ages 8-12, depending on how old they’re turning before December 31st.

Dyson adds that parents are asked to bring indoor footwear and snacks, and would like for the children to be dropped off at 3 pm until 4:45 pm.

If anyone have any questions, you can contact Gwen Dyson at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre at 922-2690 or 2691.

The start of the school year is about three weeks away and as the push to get students vaccinated continues, Public Health is reporting strong uptake for that age group.

The Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, says over 80 per cent of the eligible school-age population has received one dose of the vaccine, and 55 per cent have received their second shot.

Fitzgerald expects those second-dose numbers to increase over the next few weeks.

She is pleased to see that 80 per cent of that population has been vaccinated with their first shot, she thinks that is a good marker for those who wish to get their second.

The Archeology Family Program stay went well in Hebron a few weeks ago.

Lena Onalik is the Archeologist for Nunatsiavut Government.

She says they went out on the land, shared some stories, went fishing, and more.

Onalik is happy to have been there with the family who had not visited their home for a long time.

Stay tuned to AtjiKangitut today to hear Onalik give you more details of their stay in Hebron.

There are two turbot boats fishing in Makkovik with more on the way as we speak.

Angel Chaulk is the Fish Plant Clerk.

She says to date a total of 43,429 lbs of turbot has been landed.

Chaulk says there are 22 employees working including 4 summer students.

The employees just finished doing the secondary on the snow crabs and will start a major cleanup, while they wait for more turbot boats to arrive.

In Nain, the char fishery has really slacked off since last week.

Deidi Kohlmeister is the Supervisor of the fish plant.

She says to date, a total of 29,871 lbs of char has been landed. There are 3 char fishermen still fishing.

Kohlmeister says within the green scallops, a total of 38,176 has been landed, and 505 lbs of meats.

She says 19 employees are working, and the plant laid off some workers due to less work.

Fuel prices are down across the board this morning, but not by much.

Gas prices have dropped by 0.7 cents and diesel is down by 0.2 cents.

There’s marginal movement for furnace oil, stove oil, and propane as well. All those are all moving by less than a cent.

The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health is trying to curb some of the fears and anxieties related to seeing more cases and clusters of COVID popping up around the province.

At yesterday’s live update, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald announced six new cases of the virus in the Eastern Health region, noting that there is a “small cluster” in the St. John’s region.

Dr. Fitzgerald says there are currently four cases in the cluster and a “high proportion” of contacts, meaning they do expect to see more cases in the coming days.

Health officials are asking anyone who visited the Tim Horton’s at 283 Portugal Cove Road in St. John’s on Thursday, August 12, between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to arrange for testing. That doesn’t apply to anyone who visited the drive-thru.

Fitzgerald understands that outbreaks and clusters over the last 17 months have created a sense of anxiety, and believes it will be an adjustment for the province to learn to live with COVID.

“And live with it we must,” says Fitzgerald. She says cases will be imported through travel and that’s a reality that needs to be accepted. The goal, she says, is to prevent deaths and preserve hospital capacity.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fitzgerald says most of the cases coming into the province now are the delta variant.

That strain of the virus is known to be much more transmissible than other strains of COVID.

She says they are seeing great numbers in regards to stopping hospitalization and death, but it is still important to remember the standard public health guidance being practiced all along.

Natan Obed has been declared by acclamation as President of Inuit Tapiriit of Canada.

The nomination process for the ITK Presidential Election formally concluded yesterday, Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 5pm ET.

As per ITK bylaw number 2 adopted by the ITK Board of Directors on October 29, 2020, the term of the President is 4 years.

ITK’s Annual General Meeting will take place from Wednesday, September 29-30, 2021 at the Aqsaniit Hotel and Conference Centre in Iqaluit, Nunavut in strict accordance with public health guidelines.

Congratulations Natan!

The Entertainment Night at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre was a huge success for the celebration of the 250th Nain Moravian Church Anniversary last weekend.

There were local singers and some guests from in and out of Nunatsiavut.

To name a few, there were Tom Gordon, Terry Howlett, Nicholas Flowers, David Builey and Kendra Jacque.

Stay tuned to hear Part 3 on our AtjiKangitut show today and Part 4 on our Teen Rockers show to hear the Entertainment Night in Nain.