The province of New Brunswick is reporting 16 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, spread out across five health zones.
In a release, Dr. Cristin Muecke, deputy chief medical officer, said some of the new cases have been spread from a cluster in the Moncton region.
“We are noticing this is mainly among those who are not fully vaccinated. In fact, in the Moncton cluster, 94 per cent of our cases are among those who are not fully vaccinated,” said Muecke.
“We need these people to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their families and those who cannot get vaccinated, such as children under 12.”
She said the province is seeing an Alpha variant cluster emerging in the Moncton region, where 150 cases have been linked to the variant.
“With the recent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, it is clear that being fully vaccinated is the best protection against the virus, regardless of variant type,” said Muecke.
As of Wednesday, 71.9 per cent of New Brunswickers aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
New cases
Eight of Wednesday’s new cases are in Zone 1, the Moncton region. They include a person aged 19 or under, five people in their 20s and two people in their 70s. Three are contacts of previously reported cases, three are related to travel and two are under investigation.
Two cases were found in Zone 2, the Saint John region, involving a person in their 20s and a person in their 50s. One case is travel-related and one is under investigation.
There were three new cases in Zone 3, the Fredericton region, involving a person aged 19 or under and two people in their 70s. Two cases are under investigation and one is a contact of a previously confirmed case.
There were also two cases in Zone 6, the Bathurst region, involving a person aged 19 or under and a person in their 30s. Both are close contacts of previously confirmed cases.
And there was one case found in Zone 7, the Miramichi region, involving a person in their 30s. They are a contact of a previously reported case.
The number of active cases in the province has climbed to 115, which includes one person in hospital.