Newfoundland has had no active COVID-19 cases for over 20 days; no positive tests for over 40 days

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Great news for our East Coasters:


N.L. holds the line on COVID-19, with 41st straight day with no positive test results

Newfoundland and Labrador marked 41 days straight without a new case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, as officials updated the province's pandemic response and addressed the crowding of George Street bars this past weekend, as well as loosening restrictions surrounding long-term care homes.

As of Wednesday's update 19,475 people have been tested for the virus — 291 in the last 24 hours.

"As we await a vaccine or effective treatment for COVID-19, we are confident in our ability to safely restart social and economic activities in our province, and we are working hard to strike a balance between resuming these activities and ensuring the proper measures are in place," said Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald during the provincial government's live update.

There have been no known active cases in the province for the 21 days straight, but Fitzgerald emphasized it is unrealistic to expect there to be no new cases moving forward.

She reminded the public it is still important to adhere to public health measures to prevent the possible spread of the disease.
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Given they have gotten things well under control there, hopefully people will continue to adhere to protective measures to keep things that way. We need more stories like this.

 

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Sadly it was too good to last:

N.L. records 1st new case of COVID-19 in 43 days

Newfoundland and Labrador has a new case of COVID-19, ending a streak of 42 consecutive days of no new cases, and halting the province's status of being free of coronavirus.

The new case is travel-related, the government said Friday.

The new case involves a man, between the ages of 50 and 59, who had recently returned from the United States. A resident of the province, he lives in the Eastern Health region.
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The upside of the case being travel related is if they followed the proper quarantine procedures (e.g. quarantine for 14 days following travel), then they wouldn't have risked spreading it.

The fact that it's an imported case from the U.S. is concerning though. As a Canadian, seeing things spiral out of control in the U.S. is scary when you're living right next door.