critical care. during the live media briefing on january 20, 2022, premier andrew furey announced that students will return to in-person classes starting january 25, 2022. furey stated that the canadian pediatric society has endorsed a return to school and that "97% of students across the country are in school right now." dr. fitzgerald said that "there are some children who live with violence, and school is their safe place." when asked by a reporter why other businesses are not allowed to reopen with the students returning to school, dr. fitzgerald said, "if we open the top too quickly, we are going to cause a flood. so we don't want to do that, and we just want to open that tap just enough so we can keep the water flowing and it doesn't overflow the sink." minister haggie was asked what the actual number of hospitalizations are in the province, as reporters are receiving conflicting numbers from both the provincial government and health-care workers. haggie stated there are "55 patients in acute-care facilities with covid-19," however, out of that 55, 20 patients were admitted because covid-19 was their first diagnosis, and the remaining 35 were admitted with other health complications, but contracted covid-19 while in hospital. fitzgerald went on to announced 360 new covid-19 cases, 764 recoveries, and two more deaths; bringing the active caseload to 2,801. the two deaths were males from the western and eastern health region and were 70 years of age and above. there were also two more hospitalizations in the last 24-hours, bringing that total to 20 people in hospital due to covid-19. there are 16 patients in non-critical care and four in critical care; a new record for hospitalizations. on january 21, 2022, health officials reported 324 new covid-19 cases and 458 recoveries, leaving 2,666 known, active cases. there are now 18 people in hospital; 17 in non-critical care and one in critical care. the ministry tweeted on january 22, 2022, that the province is reporting 283 new covid-19 cases and 376 recoveries. there are now 15 people in hospital due to covid-19. the province now has 2,583 known, active cases. officials reported 361 new covid-19 cases and 288 recoveries on january 23, 2022. there are now 19 people in hospital due to covid-19. on january 24, 2022, officials reported 349 new covid-19 cases, 335 recoveries, and one new death. the death involved a male in the western health region and was between 60 and 69 years of age. there are 21 hospitalizations; 16 people in non-critical care and five in critical care. the province is reporting 2,669 known, active cases. officials reported 296 new covid-19 cases and 277 recoveries on january 25, 2022, leaving 2,688 known, active cases. hospitalizations decreased by one in the last 24-hours; 20 people are now in hospital, 15 in non-critical care, five in critical care. during the weekly live media briefing on january 26, 2022, dr. fitzgerald announced 304 new covid-19 cases, 308 recoveries, and three deaths. the deaths were all in the central health region and involved two females and one male; one individual was between the ages of 50–59 years of age, and the other two individuals were over the age of 70 years. there are 20 people in hospital, 13 in non-critical care and seven in critical care. dr. haggie stated there were now 80 people in hospital with covid-19, however, 60 of those patients were admitted for other health reasons and contracted covid-19 while recovering, and the other 20 were admitted due to complications from covid-19. haggie also announced, as of the morning of january 26, 2022, there are 759 health-care workers in isolation across the province; 561 health-care workers are in isolation due to being a close contact, and 198 are in isolation due to receiving a positive covid-19 test. fitzgerald told a reporter that there have been 13,000 lab-confirmed cases in the province in the last month, and she expects cases to rise again with schools now reopened. there were 378 new covid-19 cases, 544 recoveries and four deaths announced on january 27, 2022. the individuals are a female between the ages of 40–49 years of age, and a male over 70 years of age in the eastern health region; a female over 70 years of age in the western health region; and a female over the age of 70 years in the labrador-grenfell health region. twenty people remain in hospital, 13 in non-critical care and seven in critical care. officials reported 265 new covid-19 cases on january 28, 2022, along with 297 recoveries. the known, active cases in the province dropped to 2,478. on january 29, 2022, officials announced 208 new covid-19 cases. there were 210 new cases and five more hospitalizations announced on january 30, 2022. officials announced 183 new covid-19 cases on january 31, 2022; the lowest daily case count since december 27, 2021. there were also 222 recoveries and two new deaths. the deaths involve a male over 70 years of age in the eastern health region and a female over 70 years of age in the central health region. there are now 2,121 known, active cases in the province. there were 179 new covid-19 cases announced on february 1, 2022, along with 385 recoveries. there are 25 people in hospital, 14 in non-critical care and 11 in critical care. the province is reporting 1,915 known, active cases. the department of health announced 248 new covid-19 cases and 264 recoveries on february 2, 2022. there were also four new deaths; the individuals all resided in the eastern health region, a male and female between 70 and 79 years of age, and a male and female over the age of 80 years. there are 20 people in hospital, with nine in the icu. during the live media briefing on february 5, 2022, dr. fitzgerald announced 198 new covid-19 cases, 372 recoveries and one new death. the individual was a resident of the eastern health region. health minister john haggie announced that there are 734 health-care workers currently in isolation, with 219 of them isolation because they have covid-19. on february 4, 2022, officials announced 258 new covid-19 cases and 229 recoveries. the province is reporting 1,746 known, active cases. twenty people remain in hospital. one new death was reported. nl health and community services announced 222 new covid-19 cases and 332 recoveries on february 5, 2022. the number of hospitalizations remain the same. no new deaths were reported. officials reported 110 new cases of covid-19 on february 6, 2022. however, the ministry cautioned that due to adverse weather the day prior, there were only 579 tests processed within the last 24 hours, leaving the province with a positivity rate of 19%. on february 7, 2022, there were 166 new covid-19 cases, 195 recoveries, and one new death. the individual was a male in the eastern health region and was between 60 and 69 years of age. the province is reporting 1,525 known, active cases. there were 210 new covid-19 cases, 247 recoveries, and two new deaths announced on february 8, 2022. dr. fitzgerald also announced changes to the alert levels. effective february 14, 2022, sports tournaments may restart but competitions are still prohibited, restaurants and bars can operate at 50% with a table size of 10, formal gatherings, theatres, bingo halls, gyms and arenas can operate at 50% capacity, with dancing in bars still banned. effective february 11, 2022, those living within long-term care (ltc) homes can now leave the facility for family outings, as well as hair styling services within the ltc can resume, and volunteers will be allowed back inside the facilities. group activities can also resume within the ltc. officials reported a spike in cases on february 9, 2022, with 250 new covid-19 cases, 155 recoveries, and two new deaths. the individuals were both female and between the age of 80 and 89 and were located in the eastern health and central health regions. there are 20 people in hospital, with seven in icu. the province is reporting 1,579 known, active cases. the ministry announced 243 new covid-19 cases on february 10, 2022, along with 234 recoveries. hospitalizations rose by five bringing the total to 25, with eight patients in icu. no new deaths were reported. public health announced 267 new covid-19 cases on february 11, 2022, along with 256 recoveries and two deaths. both individuals were male, one between 70 and 79 years of age who resided in the central health region, and the other was over 90 years of age who resided in the western health region. there are 22 people in hospital, nine of which are in icu. there were 244 new cases covid-19 cases on february 12, 2022, as per a tweet from the ministry. on february 12, 2022, the ministry announced 237 new covid-19 cases and 196 recoveries. officials announced 174 new covid-19 cases, 149 recoveries, and four new deaths on february 14, 2022. the deaths involve two males in the central health region – one between 60 and 69 years of age and the other between 70 and 79 years of age, one female between 60 and 69 years of age in the eastern health region, and a male in the western health region over 80 years of age. there are 23 people in hospital, 15 in non-critical care and 8 in icu. the province now has 1,712 known, active cases. on february 15, 2022, officials reported 213 new covid-19 cases, 225 recoveries, and one new death. the individual was a female who resided in the eastern health region and was between 70 and 79 years of age. officials also reported a drop in hospitalizations over the last 24 hours, with only 14 people in hospital. six people are in icu. dr. fitzgerald announced 179 new covid-19 cases, 178 recoveries, and three new deaths. the individuals are all over age of 80 years, one resided in the eastern health region and two resided in the central health region. there are 16 people in hospital, 10 in non-critical case and six in icu. the province is reporting 1,696 known, active cases. officials announced 316 new covid-19 cases, 261 recoveries and one death on february 17, 2022. the individual was a female who resided in the western health region and was between 70 and 79 years of age. there were 234 new covid-19 cases and 227 recoveries on february 18, 2022. thirteen people are hospitalized, including five in icu. no deaths were reported. on february 21, 2022, officials reported 237 new covid-19 cases, 229 recoveries, and two deaths. one death involved a male over 90 years of age and the other day involved a female between 70 and 79 years of age. both individuals resided in the central health region. over the weekend, officials reported 306 new covid-19 cases on february 19 and 124 covid-19 cases on february 20. the province is now reporting 1,749 known, active cases. officials announced 248 new covid-19 cases, 200 recoveries and one death on february 23, 2022. the individual, a male, resided in the central health region and was over the age of 80. two more people were admitted to hospital bringing the total of patients receiving care to 18, with six in icu. during the weekly live media briefing on february 24, 2022, dr. fitzgerald announced 287 new covid-19 cases and 206 recoveries, leaving 1,906 known, active cases. there were 392 new covid-19 cases announced on february 25, 2022, along with 222 recoveries. twenty people are now in hospital, with four in icu. in a news release on february 28, 2022, officials announced 327 new covid-19 cases and 219 recoveries. over the weekend, there were 296 cases on february 26, 2022, and 256 cases on february 27, 2022. there were two deaths since the last update, a female over the age of 80 who resided in the eastern health region and a male between 60 and 69 years of age who resided in the central health region. nineteen people are in hospital, with six in icu. on march 1, 2022, there were 366 new cases and 90 recoveries. on march 2, 2022, dr. fitzgerald announced 389 new cases, 197 recoveries and 15 people hospitalized. there are now 2,506 known, active cases. officials reported