Alert levels change through central and western Newfoundland as N.L. reports 6 new cases of COVID-19

Communities through central and western Newfoundland are shifting alert levels on Tuesday as Newfoundland and Labrador reports six new cases of COVID-19.

According toTuesday's update from the Department of Health,two of Tuesday's cases are in central Newfoundland, one of them a man between 20 and 30 years old and is connected to a previous case tied to the cluster in the region. The second caseis a man under 20 years old who is a contact of a previous case and not connected to the cluster.

Some areas of the Central Health region will move down to Alert Level 3, based on the public health investigation into the clusterand the epidemiology in the region.According to the Department of Health,a source has not yet been determined, butthe risk to the public is low.

Communities moving to Alert Level 3:

• Sandy Cove.
• Laurenceton.
• Burnt Arm.
• Brown's Arm.
• Porterville.
• Stanhope.
• Lewisporte.
• Embree.
• Little Burnt Bay.
• Michael's Harbour.
• Campbellton.
• Comfort Cove-Newstead.
• Loon Bay.
• Baytona.
• Birchy Bay.
• Boyd's Cove.
• Norris Arm North.
• Norris Arm South.
• Sandy Point.
• Summerford.
• Cottlesville.

All other communities in the region along theTrans-Canada Highway from Gambo to Badger will move to Alert Level 2. The Health Department saidthat includes communities along routes 320, 330 and 350 and most of the branches.

Meanwhile, three of Tuesday's new cases are in western Newfoundland and are connected to a cluster in that area. Oneis woman between 20 and 39 years old,one is a woman in her 40s and one is a woman in her 50s.

The Department of Health said it's introducing a special measures order to include towns and communities along Route 403, which includes Flat Bay, St. Theresa's and Journois, under Alert Level 4.

"This expansion is happening to better describe the impacted Western Health region, based on the public health investigation to date. Public health continues to conduct testing in the region," reads a Department of Health media release.

The expansionis in addition to the towns already in Alert Level 4, includingSt. George's, Stephenville Crossing, Stephenville, Port au Port East, all towns on the Port au Port Peninsula and towns and communities along routes 460, 461, 462, 463 and 490.

The final case reported Tuesday is in the Eastern Health region and is related to travel within Canada.

More recoveries

The Health Department also reported 17 new recoveriesTuesday.Five of them are in the Eastern Health region and 12 are in the Central Health region. This leaves 90 active cases in the province, down from 101 on Monday.

There is one person is hospital due to COVID-19.

The Department of Health said the investigations into the central and western Newfoundland clusters are ongoing. As of Tuesday, the central Newfoundland cluster has 64 confirmed cases, one presumptive positive case and one probable case.

The western Newfoundland cluster now has 14 confirmed cases and four presumptive positive cases.

There are also three additional presumptive positive cases in the province.

COVID-19 vaccination clinics remain open in the Western Health and Central Health regions.

To date, 147,143 people have been tested, including 605 since Monday's update.

New guidance on mixing vaccines

The National Advisory Committee on Immunizationupdated its guidanceTuesday forprovinces and territories to recommendthat anyone with afirst shot of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine can receive either aModerna or Pfizer-BioNTechdose for their second shot.

Health Minister John Haggietold reporters Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald and her team will be looking into the recommendation, and the new guidance increases the flexibility of administering vaccine doses.

"There's talk of an extra delivery of Moderna, for example, and this means we can pretty well send that anywhere or use it for anything. I think there will be a discussion on how best we use that," Haggie said,

"We've got a lot of options, and over the next few days we'll flesh that out."

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