1 new case of COVID-19 in N.L., as first doses of AstraZeneca vaccine arrive
CBC News | Posted: March 9, 2021 5:56 PM | Last Updated: March 9, 2021
Province nears 117,000 people tested
Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting one new confirmed case of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the same day that the first doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine landed in the province.
The new case is a male under the age of 20 in the Eastern Health region, and is a close contact of a previous case.
Five people have recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 920. There are 80 active cases in the province.
Three people remain in hospital due to COVID-19, all in intensive care.
Premier Andrew Furey tweeted out about the new shipment of vaccine, but just how many doses were received was not provided.
There have now been 116,957 people tested across Newfoundland and Labrador for the virus, including 719 since Monday's update. Testing numbers have risen across the province since Friday, when testing for asymptomatic people was introduced.
Maritime bubble?
Case numbers have dropped in the past couple of weeks, but Furey said Monday the province won't consider rejoining an Atlantic bubble until the province gets its own "house in order."
Meanwhile, premiers in other Atlantic provinces say they are ready to get back to a Maritime bubble.
During Nova Scotia's COVID-19 briefing Tuesday, Premier Iain Rankin said the Maritime provinces will meet next week to discuss a bubble, but added Newfoundland and Labrador is not under consideration for it due to the B117 variant outbreak.
Travel through the Atlantic bubble opened last July, and was halted in December due to COVID-19 outbreaks across Atlantic Canada.
Nova Scotia reported five new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, while no new cases were announced on Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick had not released its daily COVID-19 update as of 2 p.m. NT.