New Brunswick reported eight new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and said a section of Zone 4 (Edmundston region) is moving to the orange alert level.
Four of the new cases reported are in the Edmundston region, two in the Moncton region (Zone 1), one in the Saint John region (Zone 2), and one in the Bathurst region (Zone 6).
The province said that the section of Zone 4 moving to the orange level includes the communities of Grand Falls, Saint-Léonard, Drummond, New Denmark and Four Falls.
READ MORE: New Brunswick reports 16 new cases of COVID-19 as Edmundston outbreak continues
Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said at the COVID-19 briefing that this area of Zone 4 has improved enough to come out of the red alert level.
Public health recommended the move go into effect at midnight Thursday.
“More than 100,000 of (New Brunswickers) have received at least one done of the vaccine,” said Russell. “Yet we are continuing to see a rise in cases.”
Russell said that more people are becoming ill and in need of hospitalization, especially young people.
However, in most cases, Russell noted that those who get COVID-19 after being vaccinated have very mild or no symptoms, but can still spread the virus.
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This is why she is encouraging people to get tested even if they think it’s just a mild cold or a spring flu.
“It’s more likely COVID-19 or a variant,” Russell said.
New Brunswick is now in week three of the outbreak in the Edmundstron area. There are 104 active cases in Zone 4 alone, mostly in the area in lockdown.
Edmundston and the Upper Madawaska region will remain in lockdown. The Saint-Quentin and Kedgwick regions will remain in the yellow level.
Russell said the lockdown will remain in place for at least another week.
The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick is 1,760. Since Wednesday, 11 people have recovered for a total of 1,586 recoveries.
There have been 33 deaths, and the number of active cases is 140. Eighteen patients are hospitalized, including 12 in an intensive care unit.
On Wednesday, 1,296 tests were conducted for a total of 271,811.
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