A sad update related to the latest COVID numbers released today.

Another three people have died from the virus – all in the Central Health region, bringing the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 to 34.

Twenty people are in hospital, and 304 new confirmed cases are being reported today.

With 308 recoveries, the total number of active cases is 2,680.

240 of the new cases reported today are in the Eastern Health region, 36 are in Central Health, 23 are in Western Health and five are in Labrador-Grenfell Health.

Public Health Trying to Reach ‘Delicate and Constant Balance’

The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health outlined the “delicate and constant balance” Public Health is trying to achieve in dealing with the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

The virus is not as virulent as previous COVID variants of concern, leading to questions about why the province remains under Alert Level 4, even as people are being informed to live with COVID.

That, says Dr. Janice Fitzgerald is what public health officials are trying to deal with.

Fitzgerald says the province is averaging about 300 new confirmed cases a day, and they expect those numbers to increase now that schools have reopened.

She addressed questions raised about the fact that parents are not obligated to inform the school if their child tests positive for COVID.

“I know that some parents have concern with this decision,” Fitzgerald acknowledges.

She says what they’re trying to prevent is asymptomatic students from being caught “in repeated cycles of isolation,” something that she says that would take a different kind of toll.

Fitzgerald cautioned yet again not to assume that just because students are back in school that it is time to return to normal activity everywhere.