WATCH: N.L. to move to modified Alert Level 3 on Monday
CBC
Newfoundland and Labrador will move to a modified version of Alert Level 3 of its tiered system of pandemic health restrictions on Monday, the provincial government has announced.
The move, which will loosen restrictions on businesses and gatherings, will allow the province to "open up a little bit more," said Premier Andrew Furey at a COVID-19 briefing Thursday morning.
The province will also lift isolation restrictions for travellers entering the province beginning Monday. People arriving in the province will no longer have to self-isolate for two days. They will still need to take a COVID-19 rapid test daily for five days after arrival.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said gyms and fitness facilities will be able to reopen at 50 per cent capacity. Bars and restaurants can also open at 50 per cent capacity with distancing between tables and mask-wearing at all times except when seated, eating or drinking.
Movie theatres, performance spaces and bingo halls can reopen at 25 per cent capacity or 50 people, whichever is less. Masks must be worn at all times except when eating or drinking.
Formal gatherings will be limited to 25 per cent capacity or 50 people, whichever is less, while informal gatherings are limited to a steady 20 contacts.
Fitzgerald said the province will watch case numbers and hospitalizations, and if all goes well the province will ease restrictions further on Feb. 21.
"We need everyone to stay with us while we gradually reopen the tap and monitor the effect. If co-operation weans now, the impact could result in a delay," she said.
"We are all tired of this pandemic and the restrictions, and I can relate, believe me. But we need to pace ourselves. The last thing anyone wants is to have a set back in the final mile because we moved too fast."
The province reported 198 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Thursday, along with its 45th death as a result of COVID-19. The death was in the Eastern Health region, Fitzgerald said.
A total of 372 recoveries were also reported, dropping the known active caseload to 1,720.
Twenty people are hospitalized as a result of COVID-19. Fitzgerald said the data trends forecast by Dr. Proton Rahman, who suggested the province could see a peak of 20 to 30 hospitalizations over the course of the Omicron wave, are holding true so far but things could change.
As restrictions loosen and people start to move around more, Fitzgerald said it's likely there will be more cases.
"As we start to move through this, we will get to a point where the prevalence will start to be lower," she said.
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