ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — On Sunday, at the end of its regular daily COVID-19 update — one which announced no new reported cases in the province — Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Health and Community Services reminded people to strictly adhere to orders of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
That’s not unusual. Such reminders are a regular tag to the updates. However, it is notable that it came on the same day the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in Corner Brook announced its officers had arrested a 24-year-old man from Fort MacMurray, Alta., and charged him under the province’s Special Measures Order relating to self-isolation for those travelling from outside the province during the pandemic.
Police say he had only arrived in Newfoundland on Friday.
The man had been the subject of a traffic stop just before 4 a.m. Sunday on Regent Square just behind Broadway in the west end of the city’s downtown.
Police say the vehicle stopped, but that the driver fled the area on foot before being quickly apprehended.
He was initially charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle, refusal to take a breathalyzer test and obstructing a peace officer. He was subsequently charged under the Special Measures Orders for failing to self-isolate after arriving on the province less than two days earlier.
He was placed in custody while awaiting an appearance in provincial court, was issued a 90-day driving suspension and had his vehicle impounded.
Today (Sunday, January 24), Newfoundland and Labrador has no new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The province has five active cases.
— Health and Community Services NL (@HCS_GovNL) January 24, 2021
For more information, please read: https://t.co/ai6vTpiOvb #GovNL pic.twitter.com/NJPcXMInSf
No new cases on the weekend
There were also no new COVID-19 cases in the province on Saturday, when two recoveries were reported.
Altogether, it means Newfoundland and Labrador enters the regular week with five active cases, one of whom is in hospital.
Overall, since the start of the pandemic, 386 people in the province have recovered from the virus, while 78,007 have been tested.
Concerning cluster in St-Pierre
While N.L. had no new cases on weekend, public health officials here are keeping tabs on an outbreak in a jurisdiction just off the south coast Newfoundland.
That's St.-Pierre et Miquelon, where four positive tests — three of them involving doctors — were reported Friday. That cluster has grown to at least five, with the report of a new case Sunday resulting from contact-tracing.
Media on the French Islands and in France proper — including Le Monde — have reported two of the doctors were part of a one-week mission at Centre Hospitalier François Dunan (François Dunan Hospital Centre). The fourth case identified Friday is a high school student, the son of the other doctor who was infected.
All three doctors had been in contact with patients, meaning contact-tracing and testing is focused on both the hospital, which has more than 300 staff members, and the local high school.
Due to the number of tests required, the local lab is unable to quickly process all samples. As a result, some are being sent to an accredited testing centre in Halifax.
Because one of the cases involves a senior at Lycée Émile Letournel, high school classes have been cancelled for 15 days, and requirements for mask-wearing for students six and older have been reinstated.
Authorities in St-Pierre have recommended cancellation of sporting and cultural events until further notice and are asking the islands’ 6,000 residents to limit social interactions.
Prior to Friday’s revelation, St-Pierre et Miquelon had 16 reported cases since the start of the pandemic.