Any New Year’s gatherings planned in the coming days should be among people who are steady, close contacts and be “as small as possible.”

The surge in COVID-19 cases reported in recent days is the result of gatherings just prior to, and during Christmas, according to the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are being asked to isolate immediately and limit their movements if they develop even one symptom of COVID-19.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says the Omicron variant spreads so quickly because it often presents with mild symptoms similar to a cold.

She says the only way to determine the difference between the early symptoms of COVID and a common cold is a PCR test.

She says until you receive a negative result on a PCR test and your symptoms resolve, do not attend or host a gathering or enter a public establishment.

Public Health officials are asking residents to seriously consider their plans for gatherings in the days ahead, and not to mix people who are outside each other’s “steady 20.”

“And we’re not saying that gatherings should be up to 20,” says Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, “you should stick within your consistent 20 contacts, so gatherings should be as small as possible.”

She’s also offering a reminder that not everyone in your 20 contacts is contacts of each other, “so you have to consider that as well.”

Please continue to reduce your contacts, get your booster. NL remains in Alert Level 3 to help further reduce the spread of COVID-19. https://t.co/hBm3X3iBo3 pic.twitter.com/1n4goqLR2i

— Health and Community Services NL (@HCS_GovNL) December 29, 2021