N.L. records first COVID-19 death, as 13 new cases bring total to 148

Newfoundland and Labrador has 13new positive cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, officials said Monday, with the province recording a grim statistic: the first death from the highly infectious disease.

The patient a retired man in the Eastern Health regiondied Sunday, about three days after being hospitalized. Sources tell CBC News his condition deteriorated quickly.

His death came 15 days after the province recorded its first case of COVID-19.A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Community Services confirmed Monday the death was related to COVID-19.

"We offer our most heartfelt condolences to the family at thisdifficult time," said Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province's chief medical officer of health.

Fitzgerald said the individualwas 78 years old, had underlying health issues and had beenadmitted to hospital from his home.

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She also said that person's case islinked to the Caul's Funeral Home cluster, which now accounts for 111 cases, or 75 per cent of the province's positive tests.

Fitzgerald said all 13 new cases arewithin the Eastern Health region.

The government also tightened rules under its public health emergency, including a ban on in-store purchases of lottery tickets, and banning funerals, visitations and wakes.

Nine people in the province have beenadmitted to hospital, with two in intensive care as of Monday. Seven of those hospitalized casesare in theEastern Health region, one is in Central Health and one is in Labrador-Grenfell.

Fitzgerald said seven people have recovered from the virus.

As of Monday there have been 2,332 tests for the virus across the province.

• 13 cases are under 20 years old.
• 22 are between 20 and 39.
• 23 are between 40 and 49.
• 32 are between 50 and 59.
• 29 are between60 and 69.
• 29 are 70 years old andabove.

Fitzgerald said the number of new cases has dropped each day since Fridaybecause cases are now further away from the Caul's cluster. She addedonly time will tell what the virus pattern will be.

Health Minister John Haggie said now isnot a time to be complacent.

"This is the time to stay the course," he said.

"Just because we've seen a dip in numbers doesn't mean to say it's the start of a new trend. We are not out of the woods yet."

Haggie said between 200 and 300test samples are submitted to the local public health lab each day, and the testing machine's capacityis at least 600.

He added the province has notbeen advised of any bottlenecks by the public health laboratory in Eastern Health but the lab is working on increasing itstesting capacity.

"Those changes could be in place as early as the end of this week," he said.

Haggie also said that after three weeks of the provincial government's physical distancingrecommendations and restrictions,he's worried there are still people who are not taking them seriously.

"This is really not a game. You need to stop looking for loopholes, ways to get around the recommendations and orders that our chief medical officer of health has put in place," he said.

The health minister said shopping can no longer be a family activity, and must be kept to essential items only.

"One person, one trip, each week. Don't take your children with you unless there is really no alternative," he said.

"It's not the time to be out test driving cars."

Premier Dwight Ball added travelling should only be done for essential items and out of necessity.

"Don't just drive around to get outof your house," he said.

75 per cent of cases from funeral home

The Caul's cluster accounts for75 per cent of the province's caseload, with111 being traced back to a single wake.

"This is a solemn day for our province," Ball said Monday during the province's daily update.

"As we see the first death of a resident of our province due to complications of COVID-19 virus, we have a family in our province who is grieving and impacted at the greatest extent of this virus."

Fitzgerald announced new measures to further prevent the spread of the virus.

Funeral services, visitations and wakes are now prohibited. Burials and weddings are limited to no more than five people, including the officiant.

When asked if there was a way for people to use technology to spend final moments with loved ones, Haggie said he'd be open to the idea.

"I would actually have to check with the with the facilities across the province to see what the various states of readiness is," he said.

Retailstores that remain open to sell essential items have to stop selling lottery tickets, including scratch-offs and break-opentickets.

St. Anthony hospital staff tested

Labrador-Grenfell Health said a patient at the Charles S. Curtis Memorial Hospital in St. Anthony tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, and a small number of staff identifiedas having close contact with them.

The health authoritysaid in a news release on Monday staff have been tested for the virus, arein quarantine and being monitored.

Mother Nature continues to hammer parts of the province with wet weather and high winds, adding an extra burden to health-care workers at the drive-thru testing centre in St. John's.However, Eastern Health says changes have been madeto the site at St. Teresa's School on Mundy Pond Road in St. John's.

The original tent structure, which was opened March 21, was replaced by a new wooden structure to provide better protection from the weather, with automatic garage doors, said a statement from Eastern Health.

Fitzgerald also said people in self-isolation living in apartment complexes or condominiums are not permitted to use common spaces and must remain on their own property.

Newfoundland and Labrador has the second highest rate of infection per capita in Canada.

The death toll across the country has now risen to 67 nationwide, with the largest concentrations in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

• Tracking the coronavirus

This past weekendsaw two significant developments.

The first instances of what's called community transmission were confirmed. On Saturday, Fitzgerald said the cases were in the Central Health region and the Labrador-Grenfell Health region. Community transmission refers toa case that public health staff cannot connect to another proven case.

Fitzgerald said this development was expected, and stressed staying indoors to limit the spread of the disease.

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