N.L. marks 4th straight day with no new COVID-19 cases, while cluster still under scrutiny

Newfoundland and Labrador has no new cases of COVID-19, the Department of Healthsaid Tuesday, while renewingits calls for people who visited three St. John's establishments to seek testing.

The department is still investigating the source of a small cluster after five peoplein the Eastern Health region tested positive last week.

Health officials are asking anyone at the Duke of Duckworth, the Rose and Thistle Puband Piatto Pizzeria all in downtown St. John's at specified timeslast week to isolate and call 811 to arrange for a test.

A suspected case at an Eastern Health daycare, meanwhile, has not been confirmed. The department said no other children or staffhavecontracted the virus to date.

The number of active cases remains 13, with one person in hospital. Since March, 80,747 people have been tested, according to department numbers.

On the national front, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that Ottawa had locked down a dealwith vaccine manufacturer Novavax for domestic manufacturing.

A facility in Montreal is slated to begin producing the Novavaxproduct this summer, Trudeau said.

The move is expected to curtail delays, reducedforeign shipmentsandvaccine protectionism.Those delays and reductions have already affected Newfoundland and Labrador, with Labrador-Grenfell Healthpostponing next week'simmunization program in parts of Labrador until it receives its allocation of the Moderna shots.

Novavax says its protein-based vaccine was89.3 per cent effective in late stage clinical trials, with strong protection against the strain of the virus first reported in the United Kingdom,whichhas shown to be more resistantto other vaccine candidates.

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