With 40 COVID-19 hospitalizations, N.L. hits another record high

Forty people are in hospital due to COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador, another record high for the province.

The previous record was 33, setFriday. Seven people are in critical care. Earlier this month, when 20 people were hospitalized, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said the province's health-care system could handle double or triple that load.

"Certainly it's difficult to put a number on it because sometimes it depends on the level of care that's needed as well, but I think our system certainly would be able to manage between 40 and 60 cases," she said March 9, as the province was preparing to drop almost all public health restrictions related to the pandemic.

Officials have said the province's health-care capacity for COVID-19 hospitalizations is around 60 people.

The Health Department is also reporting two more deaths, raisingthe total since March 2020 to 103, including 37 deaths in March alone.

Both deaths were in central Newfoundland. One person was in their 70s and the other was over 80.

The department also reported 1,157 new cases since Friday: 370 on Saturday, 539 on Sunday and 248 on Monday.

Union says front-line workers are exhausted

On Monday, the president of the union that represents more than6,000 health-care workers says the pandemic continues to be challenging formembers.

According to Jerry Earle, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees, numbers provided by the provincial government indicate there are more than 1,000 health-care workers either in isolation or positive with COVID-19 this week.

"It's as high now as it ever was during this pandemic. And that's gravely concerning because that impacts the delivery of health care," Earle said Monday. "Front-line workers are mentally and physically exhausted. It's certainly impacting the care they're trying to deliver."

Earle said workers in long-term care, acute care and laboratory and X-ray work have told him they've been told to expect little to no annual leave in the coming months as the system deals with shortages.

"They are extremely challenged. They were before the pandemic, and this pandemic has really put an additional burden on health-care workers," he said.

"We really have to protect our health-care system, and we really have to protect the people who work in it."

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