6th death from COVID-19 in N.L., as province reports 4 new cases

A sixth person has died from COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador, the province's second death in four days.

The Department of Health says the latest death was a man over the age of 70 in the Eastern Health region.

The province is also reporting four new cases, all in the Eastern Heath region: one person between 20 and 39 years oldand three people in their 40s.

Contact tracing is underway, and anyone considered a close contact has been advised to quarantine.

With 19 recoveries 18 in the Eastern Health region and one in Central Health the province has 271 active cases.

There are 10 people now in hospital due to the virus, with six in intensive care, according to the department's media release Saturday.

To date, 111,741people have been tested, including 692 in the last day.

Vaccine pre-registration open for people 70 and older

A pre-registration system opened on Friday to allow people who are 70and older to decide how they want to be contactedby their regional health authority once a vaccineappointment is available.

The Department of Health said24,246 people have already pre-registered for their appointment.

Anyone withaccess to the Internet isencouragedto use the online pre-registration option, the Health Department said. Anyone can pre-register on the behalf of anyone who is eligible.

A telephone pre-registration option is also available for those who don'thave internet access. People cancall 1-833-668-3930 or 709-273-3930 from 8a.m. to 8p.m., seven days a week.

Eligible peopleare asked to wait and pre-register based on their last name:

• Feb. 26to Feb.28, with last names starting with A to F.
• March 1 to March 3, with last names starting with G to L.
• March 4 toMarch 6with last names starting with M to Z.

The Department of Health said eligible recipientswho were unable to pre-register during the dates listed above can do so starting March 7.

The Health Department saidthe order in which peoplepre-register will not determine the order of vaccine appointments.

"It is not designed to be a first come, first serve pre-registration system. Regardless of when you pre-register, everyone who pre-registers will get an appointment," said the Department of Health in a media release.

People do not need to pre-register if they have already received a vaccine or have an appointment booked already with their regional health authority.

Thepre-registration approach will be used for the different groups as they become eligible to receive the vaccine. Pre-registration for the different groups in Phase 2 will start in mid- to late March.

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