NL

No new COVID-19 deaths in N.L. for 1st time since July

There are 20 people hospitalized because of the virus, with three of them in critical care.

20 people are in hospital because of the virus, 3 in critical care

A lone woman sits in a bus, which has an ad on the side reading Hold Fast N.L., Don't let your guard down.
For the first time since July 2022, the province has logged no new COVID-19 deaths in its regular update. (Paul Daly/Canadian Press)

For the first time in seven months, Public Health has logged no new deaths from COVID-19 in its regular update. 

According to the latest numbers, posted Wednesday afternoon and covering March 26 to April 8, no one has died from the virus in Newfoundland and Labrador. The last time that happened was in July 2022. 

Though the government's COVID-19 website did show no deaths during the last update, covering March 12-25, that number has been consistently underreported by the Health Department, and six deaths had actually been quietly added to the total. 

The department says the discrepancy is due to deaths that have been reported since the last update but which happened before the latest two-week reporting period.

The death total in Newfoundland and Labrador since the pandemic began is 339 people — 44 of whom died in 2023.

But the number of people hospitalized because of COVID-19 over the two-week period was 20, up from 16 two weeks ago. Three of those people were in critical care.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador