Newfoundland and Labrador’s Chief Medical Officer of Health said Wednesday that a rise in COVID-19 cases across Canada this week compared to last should serve as a warning not to relax everyday health precautions as the province continues to come out of lockdown.
Most of the cases, said Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, are young adults between 20 and 40.
“This trend has, in part, been attributed to social gatherings where public-health guidelines have not been followed,” she said during the weekly video update. “I understand it’s been an exceptionally difficult winter and spring and you’ve all risen to the challenge that COVID-19 has presented. But now is not the time to become lax in our public-health measures.”
But Fitzgerald said it’s difficult to judge whether any given outbreak is reason for alarm.
“It’s hard to just look at the numbers in and of themselves. Sometimes you have to look at the context of the numbers,” she said.
She said small clusters may occur anywhere from time to time, but can often be quickly contained if contact tracing and other health measures are in place.
Meanwhile, Premier Dwight Ball said Wednesday there are still no imminent plans to open the province’s borders to any other part of Canada other than the Maritimes.
And the uptick has helped shape that decision.
“It really causes us to look at this very closely,” he said.
Foreign workers
Ball also addressed concerns Wednesday from workers on the offshore supply vessel Maersk Nexus about the company’s plan to bring aboard four technicians from the United States.
One of them told the CBC it’s impossible to regularly maintain a distance of two metres between crewmembers.
Foreign workers had to self-isolate before workng under earlier emergency health measures, but the requirement was later relaxed for certain workers who were deemed essential for maintenance.
Ball said such workers can go immediately to the job site, but must self-isolate when not working. He did not address how that is possible in the specific case cited.
The premier did say that travellers are still entering the province at a rate of about 1,000 per day. The largest section of those continues to be at the border between Labrador West and Fermont, Que. where 370 crossed on Tuesday alone.
“It may not be every time and it may not be every place, but you should have one in your pocket, and if the need arises, it will do more good on your face than it will in your pocket.”
Those visitors, as well as those coming from the Blanc Sablon area, are not required to self-isolate, but are not allowed to visit any other part of the province.
Ball continued to sidestep questions about non-resident property owners who have been refused entry despite more than 1,000 travel exemptions being granted to date.
The measure has spurred two lawsuits since May.
“I agree with you that this is one of the questions we get asked very frequently,” replied when a reporter asked about the policy.
And Fitzgerald said her office has still not developed any policies beyond recommending choral and band activities be cancelled in the fall.
A contingent of choral leaders and educators first approached her office in the last week of June asking for a meeting to discuss how to resume singing in the province in a safe matter.
Despite being given a long list of articles and preliminary studies about the risks, Fitzgerald says she’s still not happy with the evidence.
“There’s not a lot of it out there and it’s been very difficult to make a decision,” she said.
In other developments Wednesday
• Health Minister John Haggie offered a word of advice on wearing masks: “It may not be every time and it may not be every place, but you should have one in your pocket, and if the need arises, it will do more good on your face than it will in your pocket.”
Peter Jackson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering health care for The Telegram. Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @pjackson_nl
