New Brunswick announced that a person over the age of 90 in Zone 1 (Moncton region) has died as a result of COVID-19. This brings the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in the province to 70.
The province also reported 71 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and 11 recoveries. The number of active cases is 775.
Of the new cases, 50 – or 70.4 per cent – are unvaccinated, seven – or 9.9 per cent – are partially vaccinated, and 14 – or 19.7 per cent – are fully vaccinated.
There are 51 people hospitalized due to the virus, with 25 in an intensive care unit. No one under the age of 19 is currently hospitalized.
Of those in hospital, 41 are unvaccinated, two are partially vaccinated and eight are fully vaccinated.
Single households for Thanksgiving weekend
Due to the high number of COVID-19 transmissions, the province said a circuit-breaker will be put in place in certain areas of the province for 14 days beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8.
The areas that will be impacted are Zone 1 (Moncton region) as far north as and including Sainte-Anne-de-Kent; the northern portion of Zone 3 from and including Deerville and Florenceville-Bristol; and all of Zone 4 (Edmundston region).
The province announced that all New Brunswickers – including those living in areas not impacted by the circuit-breaker – must not have gatherings anywhere other than a place at which the law requires proof of vaccination with anyone they do not currently live with during the Thanksgiving long weekend, between 6 p.m. on Friday and 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
“We have seen a high number of cases sparked from private gatherings and these are resulting in transmission of the virus across the province, particularly amongst the unvaccinated,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, in a release.
“I understand this is difficult but, in an effort to reduce the spread, New Brunswickers must not have gatherings at their homes during Thanksgiving weekend.”
New rapid testing program
Beginning next Tuesday, a new rapid testing program for schools will be rolled out to minimize disruptions to learning due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
In addition, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said it has made updates to the outbreak management process, including creating a dedicated COVID-19 response team to improve response time and reporting on outbreaks in schools.
In the coming days, a new dashboard will be available on the Healthy and Safe Schools website.