Public health officials are hoping to determine the possible level of undetected cases of COVID-19 circulating in the community by opening up voluntary testing clinics for residents of the Eastern Health region who are not experiencing any symptoms.
There is one new confirmed case of COVID-19 in the province today, a contact of a previous case in the Eastern Health region.
That leaves 113 active cases in the province, including seven people in hospital.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says they know that many people who tested positive during the recent outbreak had no symptoms at all.
She says they’re interested in getting a better snapshot of what might be going on out there before decisions are made on changes to Alert Levels in the Avalon region.
Testing centres in St. John’s, Mount Pearl, Harbour Grace, Burin, and Clarenville are now accepting appointments for asymptomatic people who want to get tested.
Additional mobile testing clinics are being set up in Trepassey, Bonavista, Placentia, and downtown St. John’s. People without symptoms who want to get tested are asked to contact 811 or complete the online assessment tool available on the province’s COVID website.
When completing the online assessment tool for asymptomatic testing, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald is asking people to select both of the following options:
- I do not have symptoms
- Respond ‘Yes’ to the question “Do you require a COVID-19 test as the result of an advisory from Public Health?”
AstraZeneca Prioritized for Those on Front-Line
The recipients of the province’s first shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be first responders and front-line essential workers says Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, because they are “essential to societal functioning regardless of the presence of COVID.
Vaccinations will begin as soon as the first shipments arrive in the province.
