N.L.'s COVID-19 caseload drops with 16 new recoveries, 6 new cases

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting six new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with16 new recoveries, leaving the province with 83 active cases.

According to a media release from the Health Department, five of Tuesday's new cases are in the Eastern Health region, with three related to travel within Canada and twoclose contacts of previous cases.

The other case is in the Central Health region, related to domestic travel.

Fifteen of the recoveries are in the Eastern Health region and the other isin the Central Health region. One person is in hospital due to the virus.

There is also one new presumptive positive case, in the Western Health region. There are now two presumptive cases in the province.

According to the Health Department, apositive case of COVID-19 has been identified at Anthony Paddon Elementary in Musgravetown. Public health hasnotified all those who are close contacts and has provided advice on isolation and testing. Testing for all those who are close contacts has been arranged for Tuesday.

There havebeen no new cases reported in relation to the Codroy Valley and surrounding area outbreak, which stands at nine.

To date, 139,856 people have been tested for COVID-19 in N.L., including 500 in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health said the 14 people with COVID-19 aboardthe Federal Montreal cargo ship anchored in Conception Bay have recovered and have left the province. Those casesare no longer included in Newfoundland and Labrador's active cases.

Vaccination rate nears 50 per cent

According to the N.L. government's COVID-19 information site, 47 per cent of eligible people in the province had received their first dose of the vaccine as of Sunday. There are about483,400 people age12 and up who are eligible for vaccination.

Another medical team left N.L. on Tuesday morning to travel to Ontario, which is in the midst of its third wave of COVID-19.

The team of three registered nurses from Eastern Health is going for about three weeks to Mackenzie Health, in Vaughan.

They follow two other teams that departed over the last month.

Jennifer Hicks, a nurse practitioner who was part of the first team who left N.L. on April 27, spoke to CBC News on Monday about her three weeks working in the intensive-care unit at Toronto General Hospital.

She calledthe ICUthe "last line of defence,"withevery patient in the unit on a form of life-support.

"To be able to have a nurse who is mentally refreshed and available to be at a bedside, and support their colleagues and staff and take care of these patients, has been such a reprievefor the unit," she said.

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