2nd new case of COVID-19 appears to be family member of case reported Tuesday

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting another new caseof COVID-19 on Wednesday, a day after the first new case in 11 days wasfound in the Central Health region.

As with Tuesday's case, Wednesday's new case is in the Central Health region. The case isa female under 20 years old anda close contact of Tuesday's case, according to Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald.

The total caseload is now 264, with two active cases, 259 recoveries and three deaths since March.

All those considered close contacts of the new cases have been advised to quarantine, said Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald refused to provide more details on the latest new case, including narrowing down the age of the female and the exact nature of the relationship between the two cases. But a Facebook post seemingly written by a family member of the man who was confirmed COVID-19 positive Tuesday wrote that a young child, who the man returned home to, had also tested positive for the virus.

"This morning we got more devastating news that our sweet girlie is also positive and thankfully I'm negative and we are isolating separately as much as we can at home," reads the post, which had been shared almost 900 times by Wednesday afternoon.

"We have been informed by several health officials that we did nothing wrong and [are] continuing to do everything the way we should! Anyone who knows us knows how cautious we are and have been just we were the unlucky ones in a situation and we are trying to cope with this scary situation as much as we can," reads the post.

"Never judge someone because they have the virus. It could be you next."

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As per the requirements by the provincial government, rotational workers can interact with their families when they return home rules that were relaxed from earlier in the pandemic.

"So people may be out playing with their families when they're self-isolating and these are risks you know, the families themselves would make a conscious decision about certain activities and looking at the risks and benefits of that," she said.

Retirement home shuts down visits, Fitzgerald says no reason to

But Fitzgerald did weigh in on another social media post that was also shared hundreds of times in just a few hours.

Oram's Baywatch Manor, in Glovertown, posted, "Effective immediately! We have to close Oram's Birchview Manor and Oram's Baywatch Manor to visitors!"

The post said there were "cases" in Glovertown and "because we live in a small town,we need to keep our residents safe!"

The Facebook post says visits will resume only when contact testing results are back, but it is not clear whose tests the management of the facility was waiting for, since the post also stated that the "residents and staff have not been exposed as far as we know."

CBC News has asked the owner of Oram's Baywatch Manor for an interview to clarify why visits were halted, and why they didn't consult with the Department of Public Health, but has yet to hear back.

Fitzgerald was asked about it the facility's restriction in Wednesday's briefing.

"No, it wasn't directed by health officials and in fact, had they reached out to public health and asked [for] advice, we would not have advised that," Fitzgerald told reporters in response to a question.

"The risk to the community is low."

Fitzgerald said anyone who has been deemed a close contact of the two cases in Central health has been notified and advised to quarantine.

Fitzgerald added that officials from the public health division will be reaching out to the management of Oram's Birchview Manor to discuss their no-visitor policy.

Cases in under-40 demographic on the upswing

In total 22,710 people have been tested as of Wednesday an increase of 249 in the last day.

Fitzgerald said new cases have been on the rise across Canada this week, particularlyin people aged 20 to 39. She attributed the increase to social gatherings where public health guidelines have not been followed.

"I understand it's been an exceptionally difficult winter and spring, and you've all risen to the challenge that COVID-19 has presented. But now is not the time to become lax in our public health measures," Fitzgerald said.

Health Minister John Haggiesaid the new cases are in line with what the province has been seeing in recent weeks residents of Newfoundland and Labrador returning home from work from other areas of the world.

Haggie said the province will continue to see sporadic cases like this for quite some time.

"This is going to be our way of life now, as we talked about in the past, living with COVID," he said.

"This will be the case until such time when there is a successful vaccine which is safe, widely adopted and widely used in this province, and that, even under the best of circumstances, is unlikely to be this year and will be well into next year."

Haggie said Newfoundland and Labrador leadsthe country in its ability to identifycontacts of new cases. He said public health reached 90 per cent of contacts, in new cases, in 48 hours.

"That's well ahead of pretty much any other jurisdiction in the country," he said.

Asked if N.L. would increase the number of people allowed to gather currently 50 for weddings, funerals and outdoor eventswhere distancing is possible Fitzgerald saidthe province's analytic group, as well as the federal, provincial and territorial technical advisory group, is looking into it.

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