With Halloween over, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, Chief Medical Officer of Health said she believes people largely complied with public health guidelines, peoples thoughts will now be turning to Remembrance Day and the holiday season.

“While large – scale community events such as parades, fireworks, tree lighting ceremonies and bonfires are not recommended at this time, anyone planning an outdoor event should follow the guidelines for distanced gatherings, she said.”

That means a maximum of 100 people at an outdoor event, with proper distancing.

“Please remember this one holiday season in which will be different as we navigate life with COVID-19” Fitzgerald said adding that with the weather getting colder, people will be spending more time indoors.

“Organizers should plan for situations and activities with the least amount of risk possible and individuals should carefully consider the risk associated with any events before they attend.”

As people plan their activities under the pandemic, it’s important for people to be careful about where they get their information.

A story on social media maybe old, inaccurate or not applicable to Newfoundland and Labrador, Dr.Fitzgerad said.

Officials are reminding everyone to keep safety top of mind if you will be celebrating the annual bonfire night tonight.

November 5th is also known as Guy Fawkes Day—an event traditionally marked with bonfires and fireworks in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Anyone planning to host a fire tonight should check with their municipalities or local fire departments to confirm their regulations on bonfires.

Some municipalities—such as St. John’s—have banned bonfires for quite some time.

Several communities in recent years have hosted public events to reduce the risk of personal bonfires getting out of control; however, the pandemic may have put those plans on hold.

The Corner Brook Fire Department also encourages anyone hoping to host a fire to do so within their personal bubbles, as per public health recommendations.

The community of Hopedale has a new Traditional Games Development Coordinator.

Boas Mitsuk was hired through the Aboriginal Sports Circle of NL.

He started the new position August 3rd, 2020.

Mitsuk says he is focused on getting the history around the Inuit games coming from elders.

He is also hoping to construct a manual about the Inuit games, so that it’ll be shared to every community in the northern coast and some communities of Newfoundland as well.

Stay tuned to AtjiKangitut to hear more from Mitsuk and his new position.

Fuel and gas prices are expected to drop for this week.

George Murphy of the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices predicts gas to drop 2.8 cents with diesel a drop of 1.4 cents, while heating/stove oils drop a penny.

There are no predictions to propane.

The Community Employment Enhancement Program is now started in a few communities on the north coast.

We contacted each of the AngajukKâk on the North Coast to find out more information.

In Nain we spoke with AngajukKâk Joe Dicker with the Nain ICG.

He says right now they have 5 people hired who need more hours to qualify for their EI, and one more person will be hired sometime this week.

Dicker adds projects for this year program will be: Construct new garbage boxes, raise a new cemetery fence, repair the old cemetery fence, clean the Moravian church, raise the community Christmas tree, make and sell crafts and other duties as required.

He adds individuals can work up to 120 hours but he recommends getting up to 420 hours to qualify for Employment Insurance.

In Makkovik we spoke with Barry Andersen the AngajukKâk for the Makkovik Inuit Community Government.

He says right now they have 6 qualified individuals and 3 will be completed by end of this week.

Andersen says they will be doing work around the community such as: community clean ups, shoveling and chopping wood for seniors.

For the other Inuit communities on the North Coast, in Hopedale, Rigolet and Postville they have not yet heard anything on funding from the province.

OK Radio will have another update once it becomes available.

Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land claims Agreement are advised that the Nunatsiavut Government hopes to announce final details of a second round of COVID-19 emergency relief programs in the coming weeks.

All programs were suspended at the end of September, with the exception of the provision of cleaning supplies. Some of the previous programs may be either revamped or discontinued, while others may be developed. An announcement will be made following the completion of ongoing review.

The Nunatsiavut Government appreciated the understanding and patience of beneficiaries as we strive to improve and enhance covid-19 relief programs and initiatives.

OK Radio will cover more on this topic once it becomes available.

Today, Wednesday, November 4, Newfoundland and Labrador has one new confirmed case of COVID-19.

The one new confirmed case is a male in the Central Health region between 50-59 years of age.

The new case is travel-related. The individual, a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador, returned to the province from work in Alberta.

The individual has been self-isolating since arrival.

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

The province has three active cases of COVID-19.

285 people have recovered from the virus and to date, 53,472 people have been tested.

People entering Newfoundland and Labrador are reminded to adhere to the orders from the Chief Medical Officer of Health and self-isolate in accordance with the province’s Public Health requirements.

For the most up-to-date information related to COVID-19, please visit www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19.

Not one but two earthquakes were reported in the early hours this morning in Labrador.

We spoke with Stephen Halchuk who is a Seismologist for the Canadian Hazards Information Service with the Natural Resources Canada/Government of Canada.

He says both earthquakes were close to (within 20 km) and strongly felt by residents of Makkovik.

Makkovik residents reported a strong shaking, loud sounds, and being somewhat frightened by the events (this is not unusual for people that are close to the location of an earthquake of this size).

We also have felt reports from people in Natuashish, Postville, and Hopedale (the earthquakes may have been more widely felt – these are the localities that have reported to us).

He says they had no reports of significant damage and we would not expect to see significant structural damage from earthquakes of this size.

There is scattered earthquake activity in the region (look at the maps of regional seismicity in each of the reports) but most of it is offshore.

Today’s events are slightly larger than most in the region and it is unusual to have two events close together.

If you would like to report these actions you can do so by going on the Natural Resources of Canada website to report and fill out the “Did You Feel It?” forms for today’s earthquakes.

It will help us to better understand how and where the earthquakes are felt.

If you have further questions, please send them to our “Earthquake Info” email nrcan.earthquakeinfo-infoseisme.rncan@canada.ca.

An earthquake happened in Makkovik early this morning, not once but twice.

It was frightening to get woken up to the loud sound, which shook homes and the land.

Hulda and Joas Fox of Makkovik will tell you about what happened early this morning.

OK Radio also contacted Stephan Halchuk, a seismologist from the Canadian Hazards Information Service with the Natural Resources Canada/Government of Canada.

Stay tuned to PiusituKavut today to hear what they said.

The TaKuaKautik Food Bank Committee is seeking more volunteers.

Brenda Jararuse is the Director of Culture with the Nunatsiavut Government.

They have enough to be on the board but getting a couple more volunteers would make it easier.

They meet once a month for the food orders.

They meet to distribute the food; they also keep up with the Facebook group chat to discuss food bank topics and will be doing face to face meetings if necessary and more responsibilities in the committee.

If anyone is interested in joining or for more information, you can message or to comment on the last post from the TaKuaKautik Nain Food Bank Facebook page.

Jararuse would like to add that the next giveaway will be Thursday, November 26th.