The number of COVID-19 cases in the province has jumped dramatically by 32, bringing the total number of confirmed and presumptive positive cases in Newfoundland and Labrador to 67.
Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald provided the update his afternoon.
Identified cases of COVID-19 by date / region, as per information provided by the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
31 of the new cases are in the Eastern Health region, and one is in the Western Health Region. The age of those affected range from 8 to 78. Everyone is still at home according to Fitzgerald, and no-one has been hospitalized.
44 of the 61 cases in Eastern Health are linked to Caul’s Funeral Home. Eight are linked to travel, and the remainder are under investigation.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald is now asking anyone who was at Caul’s to self-isolate for 14 days, even if you have tested negative.
#NEW: Those who attended Caul’s Funeral Home on March 15, 16 and 17th must stay home and self-isolate until April 1st. @VOCMNEWS
— Ben Murphy (@VOCMBen) March 25, 2020
She says the virus often presents with mild symptoms and warns “the days of going to work with the sniffles are over.”
Dr. Fitzgerald says the numbers prove that contact tracing is working. There are now cases in every one of the province’s health regions.
‘Small Number’ of Cases Involve Healthcare Workers: Haggie
Health Minister John Haggie confirms that “a small number” of those cases involve health care workers who operate in a number of settings.
Exact numbers are not available, but Haggie did say the number is “greater than four, but less than ten.”
He did not provide further details except to say that they are under self-isolation and are being managed at home.
No Apparent Violations in Funeral Home Case
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says there do not appear to be any violations in relation to the Caul’s funeral home case.
She was responding to questions related to whether or not the person who attended the funeral home was violating government directives to self-isolation at the time.
Dr. Fitzgerald says the “index case” as she calls it, has not be definitively identified. However, it does not appear that anyone was in violation of orders at the time, based on those in attendance and where they were from.