New Brunswick reported its 14th COVID-19-related death on Monday, even though the death occurred at the Tucker Hall long-term care facility at Parkland Saint John last week.
At a provincial update on Monday, Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, said the resident at the facility was in their 70s and previously tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Russell confirmed that another individual — who had also tested positive for COVID-19 — died last week at the Tucker Hall long-term care facility but that it is not being ruled as COVID-19-related.
The deaths occurred on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Russell said the decision whether or not to log the death as COVID-19-related was a “team effort” made by the attending physicians and public health.
She did not provide an answer to the question when pressed during the update for an explanation on how that decision is made.
The province’s top doctor said it would reveal personal information to indicate whether the COVID-19-related death occurred on Thursday or Friday.
The briefing came a day after the Edmundston area was moved into lockdown as a result of skyrocketing cases in the region.
The lockdown will be in place for a minimum of 14 days.
Russell stressed that the more people who stay home in the region the more likely health officials will be able to move the zone out of the lockdown phase at the end of the two-week period.
New Brunswick’s top doctor also announced that the Fredericton and Saint John regions will transition from the red phase of New Brunswick’s COVID-19 response plan into the orange phase as of Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.
She said the case counts have slowed in both zones as health-care officials work hard to treat and track the virus.
It will also mean that both Fredericton and Saint John remained in the red zone for a seven-day period.
The Miramichi, Bathurst and Campbellton areas remain in the orange phase.
“I understand that we are all tired and that the measures we are taking to reduce the spread of this virus may seem inconvenient,” New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said during Monday’s update.
“But know that by complying with Public Health directives and observing these measures you are making a difference. You have the power to protect lives.”
348 active cases in New Brunswick
New Brunswick reported 27 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.
Four of the new cases are located in the Moncton region: an individual between the ages of 40 and 49 and three individuals between the ages of 50 and 59.
One is located in the Saint John region: an individual 19-years-old or younger.
Three new cases are located in the Fredericton region: Two people between the ages of 20 and 29 and an individual between the ages of 30 and 39.
New Brunswick is reporting 19 new cases in the Edmundston zone: A single individual between the ages of 30 and 39, four people between the ages of 40 and 49, six people between the ages of 50 and 59, an individual between the ages of 60 and 69, an individual between 70 and 79, five people between the ages of 80 and 89 and an individual between the 90 and over.
There are 348 active cases in the province.
To date, the province has confirmed 1,151 cases, of which 788 people have recovered.
Russell said she remains concerned about the appearance of COVID-19 variants in Atlantic Canada but that they have not detected any of those cases in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia reported last week that two cases it recorded in December were COVID-19 variants. One was an example of a South African variant while the other was a United Kingdom variant.
“We need to be vigilant to prevent the rapid spread of this new COVID-19 version of the virus,” said Russell.
Potential exposure
New Brunswick also issued a COVID-19 exposure warning for the Atlantic Superstore in Edmundston.
The exposure occurred at the Superstore at 577 Victoria St., on Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 between 6 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.
The province provides exposure notifications when officials cannot be certain of exactly who may have been exposed to the virus in a given location.