N.L. marks a COVID-free weekend as it prepares to drop mask mandate

Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, a positive sign as the province gets ready to remove its legal requirement of wearing masks in public spaces.

The Department of Health and Community Services provided its first update since Friday, when Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald announced the mask mandate will be removed Tuesday.

The department also reported one more recovery from COVID-19, leaving six active cases in the province.

Of the six cases, two are are in the Eastern Health region, one is in Central Health and one is in Western Health. The remaining two cases are related to ships that had previously docked near Bay Bulls and in Conception Bay.

Fitzgerald said Friday the government is still strongly encouraging people to wear masks in public spaces but circumstances have changed particularly with the progress of theprovince's vaccination strategy enough to warrant removing a legal requirement.

As of data collected Sunday, just over 84 per cent of eligible people in Newfoundland and Labrador have had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Just over 62 per cent have had a second.

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