Newfoundland and Labrador have postponed an additional schedule of COVID19 vaccination to delay the spread of the coronavirus.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald on Friday said that some of the new cases are from the Omicron variant, but the variant needs to be confirmed by the Canadian National Laboratory,to give the specific number. She added that there are suspected cases of Omicron in both Eastern and Central Health areas.
However, Fitzgerald says current evidence does not suggest that unaffected schools need to be closed, as cases increase and schools in western health areas continue to be confused by COVID19.
She wants the school to be able to finish the winter semester, but longer vacation breaks cannot be ruled out. “The timing is bad, there is no other way to say it, but I think I’m in a good place and I think I’ll be in a good place again if I take measures,” she said.
The last day of class before the break is now Wednesday. In a letter released Friday, the school district stated that all grade-level students should bring back the resources and materials they would need for virtual classes after the holidays.
Most of the new cases, 31 cases, are in the western health area, where the number of cases has increased recently.
20 is related to the contacts in the previous case and 11 is under investigation.
There are 11 cases in the Eastern Health Area. Eight are related to travel, two are contacts from previous cases, and one is under investigation.
There are four cases in the Central Health area, all of which are under investigation. With four new recovery, there are 76 active cases of COVID 19 in the state.
The state has completed 357,188 COVID 19 tests so far, including 1,107 yesterday, so no one is currently hospitalized for the virus.
Prime Minister Andrew Furey announced at a briefing that people over the age of 18 are eligible for additional vaccination 22 weeks after the second vaccination. This is a reduction of about 4 weeks from the 6 month waiting period.
Read More: N.L. reports 46 new COVID-19 cases, shortens booster timeline to 22 weeks | CBC News
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