ICU admissions due to COVID-19 rise by 1 in N.L.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care in Newfoundland and Labrador went up by one on Friday, raising the number of people in critical care due to the virus to eight.

Twenty people are in hospital in total as a result of COVID-19 in the province, which reported 258 new cases Friday.

By region, there are 168 new cases in the Eastern Health region, 43 in the Central Health region, 28 in the Western Health region and 19 in the Labrador-GrenfellHealth region.

With 229 new recoveries, the province's known active caseload drops to1,746, according to the Department of Health.

A total of 1,416 COVID-19 tests have been completed since Thursday, with a positivity rate of 18.2 per cent. The province has completed 486,437 tests to date.

As of Saturday morning fully vaccinated travellers entering Newfoundland and Labrador will no longer have to self-isolate for two days upon arrival. They will still have to complete a COVID-19 rapid test each day for five days after they arrive.

The change was part of an announcement Thursday that the province will move to a modified version of Alert Level 3 on Monday.

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