2 new COVID-19 deaths in N.L. while testing demand overwhelms capacity
CBC
Two people have died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The deaths are the 22nd and 23rd since the pandemic hit the province. Both deaths are men age 70 or older in the Eastern Health region.
The province also reported 1,135 new cases Monday, including 680 cases reported from test samples that were sent out of province as the demand for testing in Newfoundland and Labrador has outstripped capacity, according to a media release from Public Health. Tests between Dec. 29 and Jan. 6 were sent out of province for testing.
Health Minister John Haggie is scheduled to hold a media briefing about the out-of-province testing today at 3:30 p.m. NT.
Of the 1,135 cases reported Monday, 946 are in the Eastern Health region. There are 59 cases in the Central Health region, 39 in the Western Health region, 64 in the Labrador-Grenfell Health region and 27 cases found in a private lab outside a health authority testing centre.
The province also reported 122 recoveries Monday, and the known active caseload rises to 5,955. Four people are in hospital due to the virus.
A total of 433,918 tests have now been processed, up nearly 7,000 since Sunday.
With COVID-19 testing demand outstripping capacity in the province, results that usually come back within three days are now taking up to a week — and some residents awaiting word are feeling frustrated.
Kate McLeod of St. John's is among that group.
McLeod got tested Jan. 3 after waking up with a headache and developing a cough on New Year's Eve. She said she was advised by the provincial government's online COVID-19 self-assessment tool to book an appointment for a PCR test.
"After I got the test I did expect it to take probably up to 72 hours as they were talking about because of the backlog," McLeod told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show on Sunday, after six days with no word.
"It's definitely been hard. With the seven-day isolation now, my isolation is over. So I don't even know if I had COVID the whole time that I was in isolation."
McLeod said she and her boyfriend both had to take time off work, and she's frustrated she has no answers for her employer on whether she had the virus. Both are fully vaccinated, and McLeod has had a booster shot.
McLeod said it's also frustrating for contacts she had for the couple of days before she became symptomatic.
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