New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell. (CPAC)
In a surprise weekend briefing, Public Health announced three new cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick on Sunday.
The three cases, in addition to the case announced Saturday, are all connected to Manoir de la Vallée in Atholville.
The province now has 12 active cases of COVID-19, all of which are in the Zone 5 Campbellton region. Three patients have been hospitalized, and one is in the intensive care unit.
“An outbreak in a senior’s home is everyone’s greatest fear,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical health officer. “Please be assured that our overriding priority is the health and safety of the residents, and those who care for them.”
So far, New Brunswick has managed to avoid any fatalities related to COVID-19, in part because there had yet to be any cases in long-term care facilities.
As a result of this weekend’s new cases, the province has added additional staff to improve cleaning and care practices.
Over 1,300 tests were processed Sunday, and Russell estimated 2,000 symptomless residents were tested in Zone 5 this weekend.
“This provides us with a lot of confidence in terms of reducing the level of testing for the next week,” she said.
Over the past few days, residents in zone five had access to walk-in testing in an effort to quickly assess the level of spread in the new cluster of cases. Starting Monday, they will only be testing individuals exhibiting two or more symptoms.
Russell also took time to ask for understanding and compassion among New Brunswickers during the current outbreak.
“The blame (goes to) the virus, not the people,” she said. “The ripple effects of acts of kindness are far-reaching, and humanity as a whole has a call to action right now. We have a lot of hurting people in this province, in this country, in our neighbouring country, in the world.”
