Thread by @PeterCBC

Latest COVID-19 numbers in NL
There are 14 new cases in the province.
There are 2 travel related, on in Labrador, one in Western.
There have been 37 recoveries.
There are 407 active cases
No new our outstanding presumptive cases
There are 5 people in hospital #covid19nfld

Dr. Fitzgerald says it's encouraging that we're now seeing more recoveries than we see new cases.
"I am cautiously optimistic that we are making progress" but she says we are not out of the woods #covid19nfld

Dr. Fitzgerald reminds people the whole province is under level 5 lockdown.
Even outdoor activities should only be with people in your household, stay 6 feet away form everyone else #covid19nfld

Dr. Fitzgerald says variants will come in through travel, that's why quarantine is in place. Shorter isolation for rotational workers "is not a safe option at this point" #covid19nfld
She says they can't leave their property, they can't interact with family #covid19nfld

Premier Andrew Furey says the lockdown measures are doing what they're supposed to, testing is working, reducing contacts is working.
He says this will allow us to fight our way back out of lockdown #covid19nfld

Health Minister John Haggie says rather than celebrate that recoveries are higher than new cases.
He says these numbers are actions taken 10 days ago.
What will happen over the next week depends on what we did this week and do now #covid19nfld

Haggie says they're waiting for the ramp up of vaccine deliveries.
Seniors in congregate living and high exposure healthcare workers are getting the dose this week.
Absent the vaccine reliable in numbers, he says they're not going to announce dates for further groups #covid19nfld

People over 75 are getting vaccinated in southern Labrador minister says it's because they had extra moderna doses.
He says they'd roll it out on the Island if they had the doses, but they have to prioritize high risk people #covid19nfld

Vaccine delivery has not matched the number of people in long term care and personal care homes, so they're still working through those groups before #covid19nfld

Dr. Fitzgerald and the premier will be meeting with leaders in Labrador tomorrow to discuss the demand for point of entry testing for anyone arriving from Newfoundland #covid19nfld

(the minister talks vaccine in the terms of trays, which usually means 975 doses, so 6 trays is 5,850 doses)

Haggie says they can vaccinate 80,000 people a month during a pandemic, they did it with the flu shots, but they just don't have the doses #covid19nfld

There have been some delays so we won't be able to do whole genome sequencing until the end of the month (this allows us to test for variants when we see new cases) #covid19nfld

"We need to have a little bit more time" before we know if the balanced has tipped in our favour, says Dr. Fitzgerald.
"We're still having to watch things carefully" #covid19nfld

Who's testing positive now? It's an older age group. Average has gone up to 32 years, earlier it was 20.
Some people who have been in isolation and with no symptoms are now testing positive at the end of their isolation #covid19nfld

A lot of young people have had no symptoms, and they've been able to spread it.
Some of the students wo initially tested negative, could later develop the disease so they wanted to test people before ending isolation #covid19nfld

They are going to be testing sewage in the metro region. They're looking at how to do it elsewhere in the province.
This would allow them to detect the prevalence of the disease #covid19nfld

Dr. Fitzgerald says they're close to having a finalized list for the next round of vaccinations.
It's not an easy discussions, not an easy decisions #covid19nfld

She's hoping to release the list of who qualifies for vaccinations "very soon" #covid19nfld

Which positive cases are being sent to the national lab to test for the variant?
International travellers, healthcare workers, other cases that may have a suspicious transmission pattern are all sent.
They assume cases in Eastern are all variants #covid19nfld

They have 25-70 day supply of most of the common PPE items, they just ordered more gloves because they were short, but there are likely a 200 year supply of face shields says Haggie, so variable amounts #covid19nfld

Dr. Fitzgerald says they're recommending people wearing masks when interacting people outside their household, so that's why they are wearing them at the briefing, even though they're physically distant #covid19nfld

There are people in the ICU says Dr. Fitzgerald but she doesn't give a number.
(They used to provide a number in the ICU in the first wave, they seem to have now stopped) #covid19nfld

Dr. Fitzgerald refuses to say how many are in the ICU. When it was pointed out to her that they used to give out those number, she says yes they did but didn't elaborate why they stopped doing it #covid19nfld