Record high COVID-19 case number are still climbing, as New Brunswick celebrates its second Christmas and holiday season amid the pandemic.
Exactly one year ago on Dec. 16, 2020, there were 51 active cases in the province.
This year, the number is north of 1,100. On Thursday, the province broke its record for a single-day case count at 177 as the Omicron variant is helping to cause a surge in numbers.
It’s a similar picture in Nova Scotia, which also broke its record on Thursday and is seeing the return of holiday restrictions.
The province announced Monday that it wouldn’t fully move to Alert Level 2, but instead tighten things up under Level 1.
This means inter-regional travel can happen for now, but Premier Blaine Higgs is not ruling out even more measures in the days to come.
The temporary measures include physical distancing at all businesses, 50 per cent capacity at movie theatres and professional sporting events, and a pause on organized sports for children under the age of 12.
“I think yes, we’re in a worse spot than we were last year,” said Ray Harris, a Fredericton-based data analyst.
“There’s a heck of a lot of caveats to that.”
Back in 2020, the entire province was under what was then known as the Yellow phase of the recovery plan.
That meant residents had to have a Steady 20 — in other words, a consistent group of 20 people. As well, masks were mandatory in indoor public spaces.
At the time, there were stringent travel restrictions and self-isolation requirements. The border with the U.S. was still closed.
And the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had only just arrived in Canada.
On Dec. 19, 2020, the first doses were administered in the province — with a priority for front-line and health-care workers.
“We have more tools in our toolbox out there to be able to fight this, including knowing what works and what doesn’t work and sharing information very quickly,” said Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious disease specialist based in Halifax.
As well, a large portion of New Brunswick’s current cases are among the province’s younger population, a group that is less at risk of serious illness from COVID-19.
“I’m a parent. I’m a parent of a young kid. Obviously I don’t want my kid to get sick. I don’t want that for any parent. But if you’re looking holistically across the province and you’re thinking how do we minimize the strain on health care, having that trend be in lower age groups is helpful in that regard,” said Harris.
Restriction-wise, the province is currently limiting gatherings to people’s Steady 20.
This is similar to the rules last Christmas, however, the restrictions could tighten up between now and Dec. 25.
“I think we’re going to see numbers we haven’t seen before, but I think we’re going to come into January ready for a fight,” said Harris.
“And I don’t think that was the case last year.”
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