There are 10 new cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick on Wednesday.
In a news briefing, Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said six of the cases are in Zone 1, the Moncton region, and the other four are in Zone 3, the Fredericton region.
All the Zone 1 cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases. Three of the Zone 3 cases are linked to previous case and one is linked to travel. That person is isolating outside of the province.
Russell also said the province has found a single case of community transmission in Zone 3 which they have been unable to trace to other cases in the area.
“Now, this is concerning, because to date we have been able to link virtually all the active cases in that zone,” she said. “However, we do believe that this case is a different strain and not related to the other cases of COVID-19 now present in the Fredericton area.”
She couldn’t say what variant it may be, but said preliminary genetic sequencing done on that case differentiates it from any of the circulating cases in the area right now. Russell said there will be more information on that later.
There are now 134 active cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick, which includes 10 people outside of the province. Six are in hospital, including two in intensive care. That includes one person hospitalized outside of the province.
Vaccine eligibility opens up
New Brunswickers aged 12 and up are now eligible to book an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Education Minister Dominic Cardy, who was also at the briefing Wednesday, said appointments can be booked through participating pharmacies or regional health authorities.
Appointments for children under the age of 16 must be made for the Pfizer vaccine only and a parent or guardian must provide consent.
People can book an appointment online or by calling 1-833.437-1424. Cardy said more vaccine appointments will be made available next week or the week after.
He said in the coming days, the province’s school districts will send out information to parents to help guide them through the registration and vaccination process.
“Our goal is to provide parents with efficient access to information, so much like the vaccine, the registration process is quick and painless,” he said.
Cardy said there have been questions about why vaccines won’t be given out in schools, but after looking at the options he said there were too many logistical challenges with doing that.
Dr. Russell also said those who have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine will have an opportunity to get a second dose before the end of the month, provided it is at least eight weeks after the first.
While the province has paused the use of AstraZeneca as a first dose for the general population, appointments are available for those aged 55 or older at some pharmacies.
New case at Fredericton school
Cardy said the province has confirmed a third positive case of COVID-19 at Priestman Street School in the Fredericton area.
He said the school community has been notified and Public Health has directed students, staff and families to extend their isolation until 11:59 p.m. on May 28 to allow for contact tracing to be carried out.
Students will engage in distance learning for the rest of the week.
“While I know that anxieties are high in the Fredericton area, I want to reassure families and let them know that no in-school transmission cases have been determined in connection with these three cases,” he said.
He also said there is a new potential exposure to the virus on a public school bus.
Those on bus 210 carrying students to Fredericton High School and George Street Middle School the mornings of May 18, 19, 20, and 21 are being directed to self-isolate for 72 hours as contact tracing is carried out, then self-monitor for 14 days.
Anyone on that bus is being strongly encouraged to get tested.
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