N.L. reports no new cases of COVID-19 over Easter long weekend

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 since Thursday, after public health officials reeled back daily reporting overthe Easter long weekend.

There have been no new recoveries over that four-day span, according to a media release from the Department of Health. The province has four active cases. No one is in hospital due to the virus, and health workers have performed 764 tests since Thursday.

Late Friday, Eastern Health confirmed thataround 70 people were potentially exposed to COVID-19 in a St. John's emergency room last week, after a positive patient visited the Health Sciences Centre three times in the span of four days.

Fewer than 20hospital employees are in quarantine and undergoing testing, according to the health authority, which said in a statement Monday afternoon that public health workers have completed contact tracing, with those identified as at risk asked to schedule a test.

All test results so far have been negativeand the exposure did not affect hospital services, according to Eastern Health.

Atlantic bubble under scrutiny

Newfoundland and Labrador's consistently low caseload bodes well for its inclusion in a tentative Atlantic bubble agreement, which the region's four premiers have scheduled to begin on or before April 19.

The pact would permit travel without isolation among Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as long as outbreaks remain contained and the provinces' top doctors green-light the plan.

However, cases have recently spiked in New Brunswick, as residents there grapplewith a B117 variant outbreak. Officialsreported 10 new cases on Monday, with an active caseload of 168 people.

Dr. Jennifer Russell,New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health, spoke cautiously about the April 19 opening date. "Our epidemiology teams from all four Atlantic provinces have been meeting, as well as the chief medical officers health on this topic," Russell said.

"We'll keep watching and waiting [to see] if we can all agree, and feel safe and secure aboutour ability to contain the variants right now."

The bubble's uncertain future hasn't deterred one jurisdictionfrom wanting to join, however.

Leadership in St-Pierre-Miquelon, the French prefecture inhabited by 6,000 people off Newfoundland's south coast, has requested inclusion in the bubble, saying in a media release Saturday that opening the international border could mutually boost tourism and permit some mobility to residents of the territory, who haven't been allowed into Canada for over a year.

Over half of the archipelago's eligible population has received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the territory's government.

In an emailed statement Monday, Premier Andrew Furey offered few hints about whether his government supportsthe idea.

"As part of the country of France, St.Pierreet Miquelon is subject to the federal government's travel guidance," the statement said.

"Our province looks forward to welcoming visitors as soon as it is safe to do so, after discussions with the appropriate levels of government."

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