COVID-19 kills 2 in N.L. over Thanksgiving long weekend

Newfoundland and Labrador added 21 new cases of COVID-19 over the Thanksgiving long weekend, according to a media release from the Department of Health on Tuesday.

The department also confirmed the deaths of two more people.News of one of those deaths of 60-year-old Cyril Brenton from Botwood surfaced over the weekend, as reported by CBC.

Thirteen people in the province have died ofCOVID-19 in total. Over the first year and a half of the pandemic, the province marked seven deaths, but has now had six in the past 16 days.

Eight of the new cases are in the Eastern Health region, 13 are in Central Health and one is in the Labrador-GrenfellHealth region, its first since Sept. 17.

An outbreak last month in central Newfoundland has led to a spike in both hospitalizations and deaths in recent days. However, Newfoundland and Labrador's active case count has now fallen dramatically, with the department reporting 62 new recoveries since its last update, on Friday.

That leaves the province with 69 active cases, abouttwo-thirds of them in the Central Health area.

The drop in infections prompted the Health Department on Tuesday to move Twillingate and surrounding communities to Alert Level 2, downgrading public health restrictions imposed at the start of last month's outbreak.

None of Tuesday's reported cases is connected to the three clusters in Baie Verte, Twillingateand Botwood areas.

Twelve people are in hospital due to the virus, with five of them in critical care.

The department is also reporting three new presumptive positive cases and issuing an exposure notice for the Dollaramaon Hardy Avenue in Grand Falls-Windsor. Anyone in that location on Oct. 3 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. should seek testing, the Health Department said.

Read morefrom CBC Newfoundland and Labrador