A large swath of the province is on partial lockdown due to community spread of COVID-19 from the Notre Dame Bay cluster.
The catchment zone stretches from Gambo to Badger on the TCH and points north including the Gander Loop, Twillingate, and Cottrell’s Cove but not Change Islands or Fogo Island.
The area is now on Alert Level 4 which means restaurants are closed to in-person dining, bars, bingo halls, and fitness facilities are closed outright, and that retail outlets can remain open at 50 per cent capacity.
PUBLIC ADVISORY – Alert Level 4
May 24, 2021Please see below Alert Level 4 Measures, or check out our website here: https://t.co/cGPMaPGzP6 pic.twitter.com/B55FCvaaab
— Grand Falls-Windsor (@towngfw) May 24, 2021
In response to the Public Health Alert Level 4 Advisory, Town Offices will be closed to the public. Updates will be provided on Tuesday May 25. After Hours Line 709-651-2941 – https://t.co/MNDmboTTcw
— Town of Gander (@townofgander) May 24, 2021
Parks, campgrounds, and playgrounds can remain open but team and group sports, as well as cultural events, are out. Weddings and funerals are limited to 10 people including the officiant. Child care centers remain open at full capacity but schools are closed today and Wednesday. People are encouraged to work from home where possible.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the chief medical officer of health, says travel into the restricted zone should be limited to reasons such as work, medical care, or essential support.
Anyone who traveled there on the long weekend can return home, however, they should monitor their symptoms for the next 14 days. If they have even one symptom, they should get a test and isolate until they get a negative result and the symptoms have been resolved for 24 hours.
There were five new cases yesterday. Three in Central Health connected with the outbreak, one in Eastern Health similarly connected, and another in Eastern but related to travel within Canada. In total, there are 33 confirmed positive cases and 11 presumed positive cases related to the cluster.
New Variant of Concern
(Photo via Flickr through Creative Commons.)
Meanwhile, officials are awaiting the results of whole-genome sequencing on the strain responsible for the latest outbreak, but they’re leaning towards the strain first recognized in India.
Dr. Fitzgerald says initial screening shows that the outbreak is not related to some of the original variants. They’re waiting to see if the variant involved is B.1.617.2.
The outbreak in the St. John’s area over the winter was related to variant B.1.1.7, which was first identified in the UK.
Rapid Testing in Central
Rapid test kits are being used, and Health Minister John Haggie is confident that Central Health has the resources to accommodate all the contact tracing.
It’s a young cluster with median age in the mid-30s and with about 300 contacts spread over a large geographical zone.
280 rapid test kits have been used in the localities so far. Government is supplying another 2,000 but there is a total inventory in the province of 200,000—so government has no problem supplying more if need be, according to Haggie.
