Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey is joining Health Minister John Haggie and the province’s chief medical officer Monday to make announcements regarding COVID-19.
The Department of Health gave no indication what those announcements will be.
The news comes on the heels of a growing cluster of cases in Grand Bank on the Burin Peninsula that involves four people over the age of 70, three of whom are tenants of a seniors complex called Blue Crest Cottages.
One of the other cases is a rotational worker, and a source close to the family of one of the cottage tenants told The Telegram this week that the sixth person in the cluster is a home care worker hired by the family.
In September, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald relaxed pandemic rules for rotational workers who had been lobbying for relief from an endless cycle of 14-day quarantines every time they returned home. The new order allowed those working in Canada to leave isolation, with some constraints, if they test negative after Day 5.
That pilot project was given an indefinite green light earlier this month after a study showed no community spread.
But debate has been heated in some communities as to whether it poses a risk to other citizens, and some facilities such as day cares and personal care homes still refuse entry to rotational workers and their close contacts.
Bubble bursting?
In the past week, COVID-19 cases have started to rise in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, including a few cases of community spread where the source is unknown.
On Wednesday, Fitzgerald advised anyone travelling to Nova Scotia to follow that province’s guidelines, and anyone arriving to this province to monitor for symptoms.
However, she gave no indication the Atlantic bubble — an interprovincial agreement to relax the blanket requirement for quarantine — would be reconsidered.
The day after her remarks, one person returning to the province from Nova Scotia did test positive.
On Saturday, the Department of Health confirmed there are still no immediate plans to revist the Atlantc bubble.
Fitzgerald also recently announced guidelines for the holiday season, which include a continuation of a travel ban against non-residents entering the province except for essential work or compassionate grounds.
