N.L. reports 2 new COVID-19 cases related to international travel
Both cases in Eastern Health region, but are not linked
Two new cases of COVID-19 are being reported in Newfoundland and Labrador on Saturday, both related to international travel.
According to a news release from the provincial Department of Health, the first new confirmed case is a female resident of the province in her 60s in the Eastern Health region, who returned to the province from Europe.
The second new case is also a resident of the Eastern Health region, a female between the ages of 20 and 39 who returned to the province from the United States.
The two cases are not linked.
Both individuals have been in isolation since their arrival, with contact tracing underway, says the Department of Health.
The two new cases bring the province's total COVID-19 caseload to 296. One new recovery from the virus was also announced, bringing the number of active cases to six.
As of Saturday, 54,439 people have been tested for COVID-19, up 178 in the last 24 hours.
New advisories issued
The Department of Health on Saturday issued several advisories pertaining to travel and rotational workers.
Public health officials are asking passengers who travelled on Air Canada Flight 7480 from Montreal to St. John's on Thursday to call 811 for COVID-19 testing. The advisory is related to the second announced positive case.
The provincial government is also advising rotational workers about two COVID-19 outbreaks, one at the Canadian Natural Resources Limited Albian oilsands site and the Imperial Oil Kearl Lake Wapasu oilsands site.
The Kearl Lake site was also at the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak in April, which the Department of Health said resulted in at least two cases in Newfoundland and Labrador in May. More than 100 cases of COVID-19 were reported to be linked to the site by Alberta Health Services.
Individuals working on the site who have returned to the province must call 811 for testing and undergo a full two-week isolation period regardless of test result.
On Friday, the Department of Health advised some rotational workers from the province to self-isolate after a COVID-19 outbreak at the Manitoba Hydro Keeyask generating station project, approximately 725 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
Most rotational workers can end their self-isolation after seven days, if they have received a negative COVID-19 test.
Those rules do not apply to workers at sites where there is an outbreak.