New Brunswick reported 21 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 204.
The new cases include four individuals in the Moncton region, seven in the Fredericton zone, six in Edmundston and four in the Campbellton area.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, the chief medical officer of health, said in a provincial briefing on Monday that around 1,700 New Brunswickers are in self-isolation due to potential exposure to the virus.
Russell said none of the new cases are located in the long-term care facilities already battling a COVID-19 outbreak. Those includes Parkland Saint John, Fundy Royal Manor, Canterbury Hall at Parkland Riverview and Foyer Ste-Elizabeth.
A second round of testing for residents and staff at Parkland Saint John is underway on Monday.
Vaccination update
Russell said in the briefing that vaccination clinics for priority groups will be running in Campbellton, Edmundston, Fredericton and Saint John this week.
To date, Russell said 7,732 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the province. Another 3,443 doses are being saved for the remaining second dose needed for those who have only received the first shot.
“This is a very slow process because there is such a limited supply of vaccines,” Russell said.
The province is focusing on vaccinating those who are most at-risk first, including long-term care residents and health care workers. Russell said in the briefing that vaccinating health-care workers involved in the COVID-19 response is a vital part of the immunization plan.
“We must ensure that those who are giving the vaccines remain healthy… to keep us healthy, we need to keep them healthy.”
School-related outbreaks
On Friday, the province said three positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at Woodstock High School, and one case was confirmed at Townsview School in Woodstock. Both schools are closed on Monday to allow for an operational day.
Students from both schools will begin learning from home on Tuesday and will continue with online classes until at least the end of the week.
Education Minister Dominic Cardy said in the Monday briefing that everyone who may have been exposed to a positive case in a school will be contacted by Public Health.
“No news is good news,” Cardy reminded parents, adding they should send students to class unless advised otherwise by health officials.
In the briefing, Cardy also thanked the approximately 1,400 people in Woodstock who had to isolate over the weekend due to the positive cases in the two schools.
Last week, one positive case of COVID-19 was also confirmed at Académie Notre-Dame in Dalhousie and another case was confirmed at Polyvalente Roland-Pépin in Campbellton.
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A case in Bessborough School was also confirmed last week. The province said on Monday the majority of students in this school have returned to class on Monday.
Public Health protocol plea
In the Monday briefing, Cardy called on New Brunswickers to follow COVID-19 guidelines from Public Health. He said the majority have been following the rules, but those who aren’t are causing risks.
“I wanna make it really clear… we know that nearly everyone is listening, we know nearly everyone is paying attention and we know that’s why New Brunswick is doing so well in combating this pandemic,” Cardy said.
“But for those few out there who refuse to take this seriously: open your eyes, turn on the news, look at the emergency rooms being overwhelmed across this continent and around the world, imagine if it was people you cared about being in that situation.
“Don’t do it, don’t make a decision now that you’re going to regret for the rest of your life, a selfish tiny day-to-day decision like going to a restaurant in another health zone,” Cardy said.
“Come on; we are better than this.”
Russell also reminded New Brunswickers to download the COVID Alert app to assist Public Health contact tracers. She said using the app can help detect close contacts faster, and potentially prevent the spread of the UK variant of the virus in the province.
In addition, Russell said individuals who test positive for the coronavirus, and are found to be deliberately providing false information to contact tracers, could face fines.
“These are life and death pieces of information that our contact tracers need to protect the public,” Russell said. “By not disclosing, they’re putting people’s lives at risk.”
Since the beginning of the year, New Brunswick has reported 180 cases of COVID-19 in the province.
Those 180 cases represent about 23 per cent of all cases the province has reported since the pandemic began.
To date, the province has confirmed 779 cases of the virus and 585 of those individuals have recovered. There have been nine deaths as a result of the coronavirus.
All areas of the province are currently in the orange phase of the COVID-19 recovery phase.
The update is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. AT.
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