There are four new cases of COVID-19 in the province today, three of which are connected to a case reported yesterday with no known source identified.
All new cases are in the Eastern Health region. One involves international travel, but the other three, one man and two women, are contacts to one of the two new confirmed cases announced yesterday.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says this is a concern because the source of the infection has not yet been identified.
It’s what Public Health calls a non-epidemiologically-linked case. That’s worrisome, says Dr. Fitzgerald, because they can indicate wider community transmission. While they aren’t ready to make that determination at this time, it will require extensive trace-back and investigation to identify the source.
Another concern involves a suspect case associated with a daycare. Dr. Fitzgerald is not identifying the daycare involved, but Public Health officials have made contact with those who are potentially affected.
All staff and children in the suspect case’s cohort—that is those who have been in regular contact with the suspect case—have been asked to quarantine for 14 days.