ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Bars will reopen on Monday in Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time since the government tightened pandemic restrictions in December amid soaring COVID-19 cases.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald acknowledged on Thursday that the province is easing restrictions despite January being the deadliest month on record for COVID-19, when 21 people died of the disease.
"I think what we have to remember is that we aren't going to be able to stop Omicron … from spreading," Fitzgerald told reporters in St. John's. "And then we have to remember that we have the tools to be able to protect ourselves. So, getting vaccinated, getting boosted — those are all very important."
She said the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus means the province likely won't see days of zero active cases, as it has enjoyed in the past.
Bars and lounges were shut down on Dec. 23, as skyrocketing case numbers driven by the Omicron variant prompted Fitzgerald to move the province to "Alert Level 4" pandemic restrictions.
On Monday, the province will move to "Alert Level 3," allowing bars to reopen at half capacity and households to increase their contacts to 20 people from 10, she said.
Beginning Saturday, fully vaccinated travellers will no longer have to self-isolate, but they must still take a rapid test each day for five days after they arrive.
Meanwhile, officials reported another death from COVID-19 on Thursday, following four deaths announced the day before. A total of 45 people in the province have died as a result of the novel coronavirus, with 26 of those fatalities having occurred in the new year.
As of Thursday, there were 20 people hospitalized because of the disease, though Health Minister John Haggie said there were 81 people in hospital earlier in the week who had tested positive for COVID-19. Some were admitted for other reasons and tested positive after they arrived, he said, without giving details.
Fitzgerald reported 198 new confirmed cases on Thursday, though the figure does not include those who may have contracted the disease but did not qualify for a polymerase chain reaction test to confirm their infection.
"We are still testing quite a number of people for COVID — anyone with symptoms is still able to get a test and that's different than in a lot of other places," Fitzgerald said. The province is no longer trying to contain the virus, and thus catching and tracing the origin of every case is no longer public health's strategy, she said.
"We don't need to know about every case," she added. "We need to know about those cases where knowing about them will make a difference as to how we manage them."
Public health is also working on a way for residents to voluntarily report their positive rapid test results, she said.
Haggie said Pfizer's Paxlovid COVID-19 antiviral pill is now available in the province and three patients have already been treated with it, though he said he did not have details about their outcomes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2022.
Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
