TODAY, Tuesday, March 9th, Newfoundland and Labrador has one new confirmed case of COVID-19.

The one new confirmed case is a male in the Eastern Health region under 20 years of age.

The individual is a close contact of a previous known case.

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

There are no new or outstanding presumptive positive cases.

There are 80 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.

The regional breakdown of the 80 active cases is as follows:
• Eastern Health – 78
• Central Health – 0
• Labrador-Grenfell Health – 1
• Western Health – 1

There have been five new recoveries in the Eastern Health region. This means 920 people have recovered.

There are three people in hospital. All three are in intensive care.

To date, 116,957 people have been tested.

Labrador-Grenfell Health is advising the public that the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine program will continue with elderly persons across the region. The COVID-19 vaccine will be available to individuals 70 years of age or older in communities throughout Labrador Central, Labrador West and the Northern Peninsula beginning March 15, 2021. The vaccine will be administered by the public health vaccination teams on location.

Beginning March 9 at 12:00 p.m. and ending March 16 at 4:00 p.m., individuals can than book your appointments.

Please note that individuals must book an appointment even if they have pre-registered.
Do not book an appointment if you do not meet the criteria of 70 years of age and older.

· Happy Valley Goose-Bay, HVGB Legion, 1-709-896-2231
· Flower’s Cove, Straight of Belle Isle Health, 1-709-456-2401
· Labrador West, Labrador West Health Centre, 1-709-285-8321
· Roddickton Bide-Arm, White Bay Central Health Centre, 1-709-285-8321
· St. Anthony, Lion’s Club, 1-709-454-0367

Labrador-Grenfell Health is following provincial and national guidance on COVID-19 vaccination for priority populations. More information regarding continued implementation will be shared in the coming weeks.

Labrador-Grenfell Health will continue to communicate as additional vaccine information becomes available. Please check our website at www.lghealth.ca/vaccine to stay up to date.

For more information on COVID-19 vaccines, please visit Health Canada. For up-to-date information around the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19.

News of new vaccines being approved has resulted in some accelerated timelines for the province’s vaccine rollout.

Public Health has designated first responders and frontline workers as first in line for the new AstraZeneca vaccine when it arrives in the province. That news comes off the back of the announcement that a fourth vaccine, from Johnson and Johnson, has been approved.

At Friday’s COVID-19 briefing, Premier Andrew Furey announced that the government’s hope is to have a vaccine available to anyone who wants it by the end of June, several months ahead of the initial September goal.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald added to that by saying that, as long as vaccine supply stays on track and officials can move through the priority groups, they may start talking about moving to phase 3 by mid-May.

Health Minister Dr. John Haggie even raised the possibility of moving to the lowest alert level within months.

He says everything is speculative right now, and we need to have current trends continue. However, he thinks there is a real chance that by the end of the summer we could move into Alert Level 1.

The Chief Medical Officer of Health is crediting the collective efforts of NL for “tackling” the provinces 2nd COVID outbreak.

There were three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province yesterday, all in the Eastern Health Region, and all are contacts from previous cases.

There are 84 active cases in the province and including three who are in the hospital.

All the recent confirmed 3 cases are in the Eastern Health region have either been linked to previous cases or have been travel related.

That’s very different from the rapid and worrisome community spread identified a month ago.

The Avalon Peninsula remains under Alert Level 5, Public Health’s highest level of COVID – related levels.

That will be assessed on Friday of this week, but Dr. Fitzgerald doesn’t anticipate that the province will not be skipping levels.

The approach needs to be slow, to prevent the kind of intense resurgence seen last months, she says.

Yesterday, an announcement was made in recognition of International Woman’s Day that Dr. Janice Fitzgerald is being presented with the honorary woman of distinction award this year.

The YWCA St. John’s has scaled back celebrations for International Women’s Day but is recognizing a woman who has not only contributed to the COVID-19 efforts but also led Newfoundland and Labrador through unprecedented challenges.

Yesterday, during Monday afternoon’s COVID-19 briefing, Fitzgerald said International Women’s Day is “very near and dear” to her, and she wanted to acknowledge the “remarkable women” working in the province’s pandemic response.

“While I may be the face of the response to the pandemic, there are thousands of women across our province who have contributed to Newfoundland and Labrador’s efforts and success,” Fitzgerald said.

“Women are on the front lines, in the community and in acute care, as well as in senior leadership roles in all the regional health authorities.”

On behalf of the OKâlaKatiget Society, we would like to congratulate Dr. Janice Fitzgerald for her great achievement.

From March 17th – 19th, 2021, there will be free province wide legal clinics.

Greg Noseworthy is a lawyer in St. John’s and he is happy to say that they have several lawyers that will make their selves available to whomever needs free legal advice.

This is through the Public legal information of NL.

Noseworthy says that they have a deadline for March 12th to get your name in, to get a time slot to speak with a lawyer over the phone.

He adds that legal services will be available for family law, wills, divorce, or any other legal issues that anyone might have.

This free legal clinic is being offered due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Shirley White is also a contact person in Happy Valley-Goose Bay at the legal aid office at 709-896-5235.

You may contact Greg Noseworthy at 709-769-7557 or email a2j@publiclegalinfo.com to book your appointment.

We will be speaking with Noseworthy later in the AtjiKangitut Program to find out more.

Today, Monday, March 8th, Newfoundland and Labrador has 3 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Eastern Health region.

In the Eastern Health region:

• 1 between 40-49 years of age;
• 1 between 60-69 years of age; and
• 1 over the age of 70.

The new cases are contacts to previously announced cases.

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

There are no new or outstanding presumptive positive cases.

There are 84 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. The regional breakdown of the 84 active cases is as follows:

• Eastern Health – 82
• Central Health – 0
• Labrador-Grenfell Health – 1
• Western Health – 1

There have been 6 new recoveries in the Eastern Health region meaning 915 people have recovered.

There are three people in hospital. All three are in intensive care.

To date, 116,238 people have been tested.

Reports of illegal caribou harvesting in Southern Labrador is prompting the Nunatsiavut Government to once again call on the Newfoundland and Labrador to step up enforcement efforts.

“It is extremely disturbing when you hear reports of hunters willfully harvesting endangered caribou herds,” says Nunatsiavut President Johannes Lampe. “It is equally disturbing when the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador turns a blind eye by allowing such activity to take place and continue.”

The caribou harvested in Southern Labrador are likely from the Mealy Mountain herd that migrate into Nunatsiavut. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s unwillingness to take action isn’t surprising, says President Lampe.

“We’ve received multiple reports of individuals, including Labrador Inuit, illegally hunting George River caribou, and have called on the provincial government, on numerous occasions, to take action.” Says Land and Natural Resources Minister Greg Flowers. “They tell us it’s illegal to harvest from the George River herd, but they don’t do anything to stop those that do.”

“Caribou is a part of who we are as people. It has helped to sustain Labrador Inuit as a source of food, clothing and tools,” adds President Lampe. “Caribou herds in Labrador are struggling to survive, and we all have to do our part to help make sure they do.”

President Lampe is again encouraging Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement to continue adhering to the hunting ban, and is also calling on other Indigenous groups to encourage their members to do the same.

The Department of Health and Community Services is warning the public of fraudulent telephone calls involving COVID-19 vaccination.

Reports have been received about callers asking people to pay for their COVID-19 pre-registration and vaccination.

The public should know that this is a scam. Pre-registration and vaccination is free. Public Health would not make these telephone calls or leave such messages.

Anyone who receives a suspicious telephone call or message should immediately report it to the nearest police detachment.

Information on COVID-19 vaccination in Newfoundland and Labrador can be found at www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19/vaccine.

Anne Budgell is a well-known author and she had a new book published in December 2018.

Her book is titled “We all expected to die” Spanish Influenza in Labrador 1918-1919.

The Inuit of the area were decimated, and OkKak was abandoned.

Budgell recently did an online presentation about the book on February 25th, 2021.

She talks about the similarities with the Spanish Influenza to todays pandemic with COVID-19.

Tune into today’s Labrador Memories to hear more from Budgell about her presentation.