N.L. adds 6 new COVID-19 deaths in latest update

The latest statistics from the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Health reveal six new deaths from COVID-19 reported since the last update, two weeks ago.

In Wednesday's update, the provincial Health Department says there have been no new deaths in the latest two-week reporting period, March 12-25, but data inthe regional and age breakdowns on the government's COVID-19website shows the number of total deaths has climbed by six.

Since the provincial government moved to biweekly pandemic updates, the number of announced new deaths has been consistently underreported by the Health Department. The department says the discrepancy is due to deaths that have been reported since the last update but which happened before the latest two-week reporting period. In this case, the six deaths would have occurred before March 12 but weren't recorded until after the previous pandemic update, on March 15.

All six new deaths occurred in the Eastern Health region. One person was in their 50s, two in their 70s and three were over 80.

Over the two-week period, 16 people were hospitalized, most of them, 11 people, in the Eastern Health region. Three people were hospitalizedin Western Health, one in Central Health and one in Labrador-Grenfell Health. Two of the hospitalizations required critical care.

The new deaths raise Newfoundland and Labrador's total since the pandemic began to 339, with 44 so far in 2023.

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