Atlantic bubble hiatus extended another month, as N.L. reports no new COVID-19 cases

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, as Premier Andrew Furey extended the Atlantic bubble hiatus for another month.

There are nine active cases in the province, with one person in hospital. Two people in the Eastern Health region have recovered since Tuesday's update.

Anyone traveling from any other province in Canada must self-isolate for 14 days, including those from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, the premier said.

The decision comes amid record numbers in New Brunswick, which reported 31 new cases Wednesday and 27 on Tuesday, and four new cases on Prince Edward Island, effectively doubling that province's active caseload.

Furey said Wednesday he has regular conversations with Atlantic governments about when to reopen the bubble.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald also warned against international travel and said people used to sunny winter vacations should follow public health guidance against non-essential travel.

She did encourage contact with close friends and family, and the premier expressed gratitude for the low prevalence of coronavirus across the province.

"The fact that we can move around our province … even take in a dinner at a restaurant. There are so many things, within the COVID-19 limits of course, we are lucky to enjoy," Furey said.

Long-term care residents to get shot next week

Furey said residents in long-term care facilities will be immunized starting next week. Members of Nunatsiavut, in five communities along Labrador's remote north coast, will also get their shots then.

Innu Nation members will receive vaccinations the following week, the premier said. 

Pfizer-BioNTech has given the province the green light to move its product outside the designated depots, Fitzgerald confirmed, which means people in congregate living situations outside of St. John's can now access that vaccine.

Fitzgerald said she knows of no adverse reactions to the vaccine in Newfoundland and Labrador to date.

Watch Wednesday's government briefing stream:

Officials told CBC News that the number of daily inoculations won't be provided. Instead those figures will be released once a week, starting next week.

That will include how many people have been vaccinated, how many doses of each type of vaccine have been given and how many doses the province has received overall. 

Health Minister John Haggie said although the province has given out only a portion of vaccines currently in its reservoir to date — 28 per cent, lower than every province aside from Manitoba — the province is focused on the logistics of getting the right products into the hands of priority groups, some of which will then have jurisdiction over its administration.

"The Moderna vaccine has gone to Goose Bay for distribution in the territory of the Labrador Inuit land claims and the Innu First Nation," Haggie said, noting that the vaccine's instructions had to first be translated into Inuktitut.

Distributors there also required training, and delivery conflicted with cultural holidays, leading to the Jan. 11 start date, he said.

Haggie said the second shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be administered Thursday as booster shots for health-care workers who received them in December.

While the vaccination rollout is underway, health officials, at both the provincial and federal level, are stressing that public health measures cannot be relaxed. Those include wearing a mask, physical distancing and possibly others, like some travel restrictions. 

Haggie has even said some could still be in effect a full year from now, in 2022.

No solid briefings plan during election

Officials said Monday that briefings would continue three times a week, but Friday's briefing has been cancelled this week.

When asked why, Furey said, "The three of us have multiple schedules to manage, some of which are personal, and we'll just leave it at that."

As speculation regarding an election call continues to ramp up, it's unclear how the incumbents Furey and Haggie will present updates — which often contain small speeches by the premier prior to the public health update itself — while running for their seats.

"We'll see what the epidemiology is at that particular moment in time," Furey said. "If it's necessary, then for sure. But if not, then we'll see."

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