ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — There are 60 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador today, with more than half of them having previously been in the “presumptive” category.
All 60 of Friday’s announced cases are in the Eastern Health region, with the following age-group breakdown:
- Under 20 — 11
- 20-39 — 18
- 40-49 — 16
- 50-59 — 7
- 60-69 — 6
- 70+ — 2
Thirty-four of the new cases had been presumptive, meaning they involved individuals who had tested positive through rapid antigen tests. They moved to the confirmed category as a result of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing at the provincial laboratory.
There are still 21 outstanding presumptive cases in the province, including nine that arose in the 24 hours previous to Friday’s daily provincial COVID-19 briefing. In her Friday update, Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Janice Fitzgerald revealed what had been a presumptive positive case in Makkovik, Labrador had been shown to be negative through laboratory testing.
Fitzgerald also announced 23 recoveries — 22 in the Eastern region and one in Central — meaning the province has 471 current active cases.
There continue to be two people in hospital as COVID-19 cases.
Testing in the province continues to ramp up: the overall number passed 100,000 on Thursday, and since then there have been more than 3,000 new tests, which is six times the daily testing numbers of just two weeks.
Fitzgerald lauded the work of the provincial laboratory and made particular note of Eastern Health’s response to needs arising from the outbreak discovered in the St. John's metro region less than two weeks ago, an outbreak that has led to significantly increased positive tests since then.
