Recent outbreak of COVID-19 in PAB | Spare News

PORT AUX BASQUES – Since COVID-19 was first detected in Canada in January 2020, life has transformed into a “new normal” across the province and across the country. Lockdowns saw businesses shut their doors, people couldn’t visit friends and family, and schools switched to online classes to avoid spreading the virus.

Although daily updates from the province are no longer regular and outbreaks may not be as common as they were three years ago, many people are still choosing to wear masks when out in public and proper hand washing is being done still recommended.

The latest data as of Jan. 19 says there have been 54,307 cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador since the pandemic began, and 297 deaths have also been confirmed. As of November 30, 2021, 740,895 tests have also been completed.

Most recently, in Port aux Basques, an outbreak occurred at the health center of Dr. Charles L. LeGrow, a stark reminder that COVID is still a real concern. In response to email inquiries, Western Health stated the following:

“There has been a COVID outbreak at LeGrow Health Center that has impacted long-term residents. This outbreak is expected to end today (Thursday, January 19) as there have been no further cases for 10 days. There is an outbreak team that closely monitors each situation and implements measures to prevent further spread. There was no spread outside of the long-term care unit at LeGrow.

All outbreak and visitor restrictions are regularly updated on the Western Health website. There is a link on the main page of the site that lists the sites with outbreaks. If visitor restrictions are in place, next of kin of all patients/residents in the affected unit will be notified.

Visitor restrictions will be implemented when an active outbreak occurs in a specific unit at any of the healthcare facilities. The province has Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) guidelines that employees follow to determine if a unit has an outbreak.

The number of COVID-positive people in the hospital is being monitored by IPAC staff and reported to the province. There are currently 5 people hospitalized with COVID across the region. This number fluctuates daily depending on the approval.”

Although regular updates from the province are a thing of the past, the Department of Health and Community Services is still keeping a close eye on COVID in the province, as detailed in a department’s response to email inquiries last week.

“Newfoundland and Labrador had 276 deaths due to COVID in 2022. There have been 295 deaths due to COVID since the pandemic began. We are now reporting new cases and inactive cases. The number of active cases was estimated based on the number of expected recoveries (no longer infectious) within the timeframe in which we conducted widespread confirmatory testing. During the first few years of the pandemic, understanding the number of active cases gave us an understanding of isolated people, which was helpful in determining the extent of community transmission and the workload for public health workers. Testing guidelines and testing volume have since declined, so reporting active cases no longer reflects the same measurement as it once did when more testing was conducted. Public health continues to report new cases of COVID-19. For the most recent reporting period, December 18, 2022 to December 31, 2022, 199 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the province and 39 new COVID-19 cases in Western Health. For detailed information on COVID-19 cases per day for this reporting period, visit the COVID-19 dashboard.

Genome sequencing is currently unavailable for cases related to the outbreak at LeGrow Health Center. There is a delay in identifying the sequence results. Also, not all cases are sequenced.

Vaccination will continue for people 6 months and older. Please visit our website for vaccination appointments in your area. Vaccines – Time For The Shot We continue to encourage everyone in the province to stay up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations.

The majority of the population of NL has received COVID-19 vaccinations and/or acquired immunity through infection. In addition, the variants currently circulating are less severe than the variants circulating in the first year and a half of the pandemic. As a result, our population has built up good immunity to severe COVID-19-related consequences, putting us in an improved position compared to the first two years of the pandemic.”