A low-pressure system has been hovering over the north coast of Labrador since late April.
Justin Brudreau is the Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for the Weather Office in Gander.
He says that this is being caused mainly due to North Northeast winds and the warmth of the ocean mixing with the snow ice, that is causing the precipitation.
Brudreau says that we should see a little break sometime next week.
Click here to find out more.
Today, Thursday, May 6, Newfoundland and Labrador has five new confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The first new confirmed case is a male in the Eastern Health region between 20-39 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.
The second new confirmed case is a male in the Eastern Health region under 20 years of age. The case is a close contact of a previous case.
The third new confirmed case is a male in the Labrador-Grenfell Health region between 20-39 years of age. The case is related to international travel.
The fourth new confirmed case is a female in the Central Health region between 40-49 years of age. The case is related to travel within Canada.
The fifth new confirmed case is a male in the Western Health region between 20-39 years of age. The case is under investigation.
Contact tracing by Public Health officials is underway. Anyone considered a close contact has been advised to quarantine.
There is also one new confirmed case of COVID-19 on the ship anchored in Conception Bay. This means a total of 14 crew are confirmed COVID-19 positive. The ship and crew are following Public Health orders as directed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The crew remain onboard and there is no risk of community spread. The province is continuing to work closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Eastern Health while the ship remains anchored in Conception Bay.
There are six new recoveries, three in the Eastern Health region, two in the Central Health region and one in the Western Health region and 1,052 people have recovered.
There is one person in hospital due to COVID-19, who is a crew member of the boat anchored in Conception Bay.
There are 58 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the 58 active cases is as follows:
· Eastern Health – 34
· Central Health – 9
· Labrador-Grenfell Health – 3
· Western Health – 12
To date, 135,201 people have been tested. People can check their COVID-19 test results online here.
There are no new presumptive positive cases.
The case reported on Friday, April 23 in the Western Health region remains under investigation.
For the most up-to-date information related to COVID-19, please visit www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19.
Health Canada has approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in teenagers ages 12-15 years old, and officials in this province are preparing for how the rollout to that age group could look in this province.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says their hope is to have first shots in the arms of those who want it by the end of the school year, which is June 24th.
As for how it will look, Dr. Fitzgerald says those plans are still being hammered out and they are looking at two options: Either mass vaccination clinics or going directly into schools.
The addition of 12-15 year olds being eligible for the vaccine means a significant portion of that population that previously was not factored into the rollout plans.
Health Minister Dr. John Haggie explains that there are over 30,000 students in that category, which is approximately 1 week’s worth of Pfizer deliveries.
He says they will work on making up that difference — noting that our amounts of Pfizer deliveries have been going up and they are expecting more of that product.
The Labrador Marine Inc is advising that the 2021 Freight and Passenger Operations for the Labrador Coastal Service is tentatively expected to commence with the first departure from Goose Bay on Sunday, June 13th.
Freight acceptance at Goose Bay is expected to start Monday, June 7th.
A further update will be posted approximately May 15th once they can confirm the acceptance of freight, departure times as well as the opening of reservations for the 2021 season.
OKâlaKatiget Radio contacted each of the Department of Health and Social Developments along the coast to see what activities they have for Mother’s Day.
In Postville, they ordered a total of 56 Geranium House Plants for each mother but not yet received them; but once they do, they will announce it on air.
In Makkovik, they will have tea/coffee and sweets from 10-11:45am and again from 1-4pm, along with a gift for all Mother’s and door prizes to be won at the DHSD building on Sunday, May 9.
All moms are encouraged to go and take time for yourself and enjoy some sweets and tea or coffee.
The DHSD in Nain has no activities planned for Mother’s Day.
They are still in a planning process in Rigolet; but will post online once they know more.
In Hopedale, they will have a Mother’s Day homemade bag contest and the deadline is Friday, May 7 at 3pm.
This is for Mother’s only; they are to post them on the DHSD Facebook homepage.
There will be a total of 3 prizes, along with 3 judges. They will post the winners on Friday.
This spring, people across Inuit Nunangat are making Ice Posts using the SIKU app.
Rex Holwell Jr. is the Northern Production Lead for Smart ICE.
He says that there is an Ice Watch Competition for anyone who wanted to participate.
You can make posts about ice conditions that include pictures, terms in Inuktitut dialects and more.
At the end of the competition, three finalists will be selected based on the quality of their posts, and the grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 gift card.
Holwell would also like to add that they are looking to hire part time operators.
Click here to find out more from Holwell Jr. on SmartICE.
The province has SIX new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today.
• 3 in Eastern Health, which are all travel-related;
• 2 in Western Health, one of which is travel-related and the other is a contact of a previous case; and
• 1 in Central Health, who is also a contact of a previous case.
There have been 4 new recoveries today, bringing the total to 1,046 people who have recovered.
2 people remain in the hospital due to the virus.
As of today, ALL Health Authorities can issue an OPEN CALL for all those in in remaining Phase 2 Groups, which includes teachers.
Public Health is hoping to open up to Phase 3 by week of May 24th.
Second Team of NL Medical Professionals headed out to Ontario to help fight the Third Wave yesterday.
They included 3 doctors and 4 nurses, this group will work in the William Olser Health System, rather than downtown Toronto.
Five of the St. John’s team made a stop in Deer Lake to pick up one nurse and another in Stephenville.
They have been assigned to Brampton Civic Hospital to provide supportive care to those who have not had a break for a long time.
Some will be going for ten days while others will be gone for two weeks.
Premier Andrew Furey says Doug Ford, Ontario Premier has been nothing but grateful for the provinces help.
The buildings and equipment located at the 10 Mile Bay Quarry site (North and South sides) are the property of the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies.
Entry to the buildings is restricted to authorized personnel only.
Unauthorized removal of equipment, material, or other items from the site will be reported to the authorities for investigation.
Lela Evans, MHA for Torngat Mountains District, had this update from Bell Mobility on her Facebook status this morning, regarding the cell service outage in Nain:
I have been talking with Bell Aliant regarding the cell service outage in Nain.
Bell is aware of the problem; it is located in Nain.
They have reached out to Bell Mobility regarding the issue.
As soon as the weather clears for their helicopter, they will be in to fix the problem.
Regards, Lela.