ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says she is taking no comfort in the small numbers of new COVID-19 cases reported recently in Newfoundland and Labrador.

On Monday, two new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the province. Since April 9, the total number of reported cases has crept from 236 cases to 244 reported on Monday.

“Although the few new cases of COVID-19 over the past number of days in our province is encouraging, it is certainly not an indication that we can relax our current efforts,” Fitzgerald said during Monday’s update.

“In fact, if we want to obtain the intended outcome of reducing the spread of the virus in our communities, we must remain steadfast in our collective actions and continue to adhere to the public health measures that are in place.”

Premier Dwight Ball says it will take time to know whether the province took physical distancing seriously over the Easter long weekend.

“What you have to keep in mind is that your report card for your Easter weekend activities is still a few days away,” Ball said.

It will take some time for public health officials to track down any potential spread of the coronavirus throughout the province over the weekend through contact tracing. The two cases announced Monday are both in the Western Health region and are the result of travel, not community spread, Fitzgerald said.

Health Minister Dr. John Haggie says he was pleased overall to see many people having virtual Easter dinners, but he did notice potential groups of people.

“I don’t take any comfort at all, though, from the small numbers of cases that we’ve had over this weekend,” said Haggie.

“It is an indicator that two weeks ago and around the time of our state of emergency that we moved and things have improved since then. However, driving home on Thursday night I was struck at wood’s access points by large clumps of vehicles. I worry that there are people off there in the woods on the weekend doing in the woods things they wouldn’t be doing in their communities in terms of physical distancing.”

Haggie says he has heard of hotels turning down bookings for birthday parties and other events to be held during the pandemic.

“For heaven’s sake, what is it that I have to say to get people to understand that looking for loopholes like this may give you a short-term buzz and a feeling of getting away with something,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, you then take back everyone else’s viruses to give to your loved ones and your family. It is not at all sensible, it is not at all responsible. It is dangerous.”

On community spread in Newfoundland and Labrador, Fitzgerald says cases are still under investigation, so it’s hard to say how many of the total cases in the province are due to community spread.

“Some of those are still under investigation. I think at this point we’ve had less than 10 cases. I think it’s around six or seven at the moment,” she said.

david.maher@thetelegram.com

@DavidMaherNL