On Monday, February 22, 2021, the 12th Council of Happy Valley-Goose Bay submitted a letter to the Province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, calling for Point of Entry COVID-19 Rapid Testing for all travel into Labrador, including essential travel.
“As you may know, Happy Valley-Goose Bay is known to be the Hub of Labrador. Anyone traveling from the Island of Newfoundland and beyond coming to Labrador will ultimately enter via our community” stated the letter.
The 12th Council of the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay calls upon the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, to implement a special measures order with immediate effect that provides for point of entry rapid testing for COVID-19 for all travel, including essential travel.
The view of the Town that the rapid test would give a result within an hour of administering the test. Although the result would be presumptive, it would still be beneficial in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and indeed all of Labrador.
The Council’s position is that the Point of Entry COVID-19 Rapid Testing occurs at the St. John’s International Airport, Deer Lake Regional Airport, Gander International Airport, and the Quebec/Labrador border in Labrador West, and the Strait of Belle Isle Ferry Service.
The Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay is encouraging all leaders of Labrador’s communities to join in this call to action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our region’s remote communities.