New Brunswick reported 87 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and announced that more than 6,200 vaccine appointments have been made for children aged five to 11 since bookings opened up for that age group the day before.
The province will begin vaccinating children of that age group on Friday. The vaccine will first be offered through regional health authority clinics, but they will be made available through participating pharmacies and some physicians soon.
“It is wonderful to see so many appointments booked for the clinics, which are starting across the province on Friday,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, in a release. “This is an important step forward in reducing the spread of the virus and protecting all New Brunswickers.”
According to the province, 87.6 per cent of New Brunswickers aged 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 93.5 have received their first dose. The province has previously said that children will be added to those statistics beginning Monday, which may cause the reported rates of vaccination to fall.
There have been 60 new recoveries since Tuesday, leaving a total of 692 active cases.
Outbreaks at Moncton Hospital
There are 45 people in hospital, 19 of whom are in intensive care. Of those hospitalized, 11 contracted the virus due to ongoing outbreaks at the Moncton Hospital, the province said.
Horizon Health Network announced on Wednesday that a fourth unit at the Moncton Hospital — Unit 3600, the family medicine and palliative care unit — is being impacted by the outbreaks.
Three other units — the rehabilitation unit, the family practice and geriatric unit and the stroke and family medicine unit — have outbreaks as well.
“Our staff and physicians have acted swiftly to care for patients with COVID-19, and to identify and isolate patients who may have been exposed,” said Dr. John Dornan, Horizon’s interim President and CEO in a release. “We are working diligently and with heightened precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19 in this facility.”
The Moncton Hospital has 16 inpatient units and currently, one-fourth of the hospital’s units are affected with COVID-19 outbreaks. As well, the hospital has 21 COVID-19 patients on its COVID-19 inpatient unit, and three COVID-19 patients in its intensive care unit (ICU).
Details on outbreaks and our response
Today, a COVID-19 outbreak has been declared on the family medicine and palliative care unit (Unit 3600) at TMH. This outbreak is limited to one unit, which is now on lockdown and following outbreak protocols.
This outbreak is separate from the outbreaks declared at TMH earlier this week on the rehabilitation unit (Unit 4400), the family practice and geriatric unit (Unit 5100) and stroke and family medicine unit (Unit 4600). These three outbreaks are linked.
As of today at 3 p.m., 20 patients and 4 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 in connection with the four outbreak units.
On all affected outbreak units, Horizon has proactively implemented the following measures:
- Upon declaring the outbreak, Horizon implemented comprehensive Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) precautions, such as enhanced cleaning as well as contact tracing to protect the health of patients and staff.
- Inpatients are being screened for COVID-19 symptoms twice a day (every 12 hours).
- Enhanced screening of hospital staff and physicians will be implemented.
- Patient testing on outbreak units will continue this week, and staff testing remains ongoing. We expect over the next week more cases will be identified. As a precaution, patients and staff of an additional family medicine unit (5200) are being tested today.
- Staff and patient movement in the affected units has been modified to minimize exposure to others.
- Designated Support Persons (DSPs) have been temporarily suspended on outbreak units with the exception of Palliative Care patients who meet a certain rating. Only Essential DSPs (those involved in feeding or bathing patients etc.) are permitted on all other units.
- Horizon has notified all patients and loved ones on the affected units about the outbreak, and staff are working diligently to provide care and comfort to our patients during this outbreak.
- Horizon is also working with Public Health and affected units to identify anyone who may have been exposed and is taking steps to protect the health of all staff, patients and families.
Case breakdown
The 19 new cases in Zone 1 (Moncton region) are as follows:
- six people 19 and under;
- two people 20-29;
- four people 30-39;
- two people 40-49;
- a person 50-59;
- two people 60-69; and
- two people 70-79.
Seventeen cases are under investigation and two cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases.
The 29 new cases in Zone 2 (Saint John region) are as follows:
- 10 people 19 and under;
- five people 20-29;
- two people 30-39;
- four people 40-49;
- two people 50-59;
- five people 60-69; and
- a person 80-89.
Twenty-two cases are under investigation and seven are contacts of previously confirmed cases.
The 20 new cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton region) are as follows:
- six people 19 and under;
- a person 20-29;
- three people 30-39;
- three people 40-49;
- four people 50-59;
- a person 60-69; and
- two people 70-79.
Seventeen cases are under investigation and three are contacts of previously confirmed cases.
The two new cases in Zone 6 (Bathurst region) are as follows:
- a person 20-29; and
- a person 50-59.
One case is a contact of a previously confirmed case and the other case is under investigation.
The 17 new cases in Zone 7 (Miramichi region) are as follows:
- four people 19 and under;
- three people 20-29;
- a person 30-39;
- five people 40-49;
- a person 50-59; and
- three people 60-69.
Nine cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases and eight cases are under investigation.
Comments