It could only be a matter of days until Saint John moves into the yellow phase of New Brunswick’s COVID-19 recovery plan — but one spot within the region doesn’t have to worry about waiting.
The South Oromocto Lake and Wirral areas, which used to be part of the Saint John region, also known as zone 2, were quietly incorporated into zone 3, the Fredericton region, over the weekend.
Global News reached out to Public Health for clarification on the border adjustments but Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, was not made available for comment on them.
Monday also saw a new beginning for the Moncton and Fredericton regions, where residents find themselves back in the yellow phase, which is a key step in the province’s push to control the spread of COVID-19.
Dr. Russell announced the changes at a coronavirus update on Sunday afternoon.
The phases are colour-coded with red entailing the most restrictions, followed by orange, yellow and green.
The rules can vary drastically with different limits placed on the number of people able to gather together or even what types of businesses can remain open.
Full details can be found in our breakdown of the phases.
Fredericton was in the orange phase since Nov. 26, or for about 10 days, while Moncton was in the orange phase since Nov. 19, or about 18 days.
The Saint John area, which slid back into the orange phase on Nov. 20, is staying there for now.
“In Zone 2, the number of active cases is still too high and the risk of further transmission is too great to reduce the restriction in this area,” Russell said Sunday.
The province’s top doctor also pointed to the ongoing outbreak at the Parkland Saint John long-term care facility as a factor on the restrictions for the region.
Another case involving a resident was confirmed there Sunday.
Health officials have confirmed that makes for a total of 17 active cases linked to the site: 11 residents and six staff members.
“We have seen some cases where they weren’t on our contact tracing list, meaning they weren’t already at home self-isolating,” Russell said.
“So that’s a concern as well.”
READ MORE: New Brunswick confirms 4 new coronavirus cases, 2 regions moving back to yellow
Russell said the plan is for Public Health to monitor Saint John, also known as zone 2, in the coming days.
“Once we see a decline in further risks, we’ll recommend the loosening of restrictions in the zone,” Russell said.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said that could come in a matter of days.
“Our hope is to return zone 2 to the Yellow phase alert as soon as possible, possibly later this week,” he said.
When the province released its COVID-19 numbers Monday, there were no new cases confirmed in the Saint John region.
The change to the South Oromocto Lake and Wirral areas was first made public in a Facebook post uploaded by New Maryland-Sunbury MLA Jeff Carr on Friday night.
Carr joked in his post that residents there can now travel throughout zone 3 “legally.”
“To the residents of Zone 2 I say this, don’t give up,” Dr. Russell said Sunday.
“You are doing a great job, you just have a bigger hill to climb.”