Dr. Jennifer Russell briefs the media during the NB provincial COVID-19 update on Dec 3, 2021.
New Brunswick has announced a new three-level Winter Action Plan to better guide New Brunswickers living with COVID-19 this Winter.
The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health said Friday that while some of the hardest lessons around COVID-19 have come over the last four months, colder weather, fewer daylight hours more time indoors are what will allow the virus to spread more quickly heading into the Winter season.
Dr. Jennifer Russell said during Friday’s provincial update that New Brunswick’s Winter Action Plan for COVID-19 will safeguard the mental, emotional and physical health of New Brunswickers in an effort to protect the province’s health care system and minimize disruptions to daily life.
New Brunswick Health Minister, Dorothy Shephard briefly outlined the province’s plan, confirming it will go into effect Saturday, December 4, at 11:59 p.m., and remain in place, “until Spring.”
The province will begin at Level 1, the lowest of the three levels according to Shephard, stating Level 1 is, “similar to the measures that we are currently living under.”
Shephard shared instead of tracking a household’s steady-twenty of social contacts, informal indoor gatherings in homes will now be limited to a maximum of 20 individuals, a cap Shephard said, “is consistent with several other provinces.”
Informal private outdoor gatherings are limited to 50 individuals while both Shephard and Dr. Russell mentioned everyone should keep their personal contacts as low as possible.
Shephard said the Department of Public Safety will continue to check with those who are directed to self-isolate in an effort to help enforcement, while she noted gatherings remain the largest risk when it comes to enforcing any restrictions related to the province’s Winter Action Plan.
Also under Level 1, masks are required in outdoor public spaces when physical distancing cannot be maintained. Physical distancing is required in public spaces where proof of vaccination is not required.
“That means malls grocery stores, retail stores, salons and spas must enforce physical distancing between patrons,” said Shephard.
“Disruptions may happen over the course of the Winter,” said Dr. Russell. “There may be times when enhanced restrictions on gatherings and businesses may be required in specific regions or across the province to arrest the spread of the COVID 19 virus. But if we all actively live with COVID-19 and take common-sense precautions, we will be giving ourselves a better chance of limiting the impact of the virus on our province,” she said.
97 new cases reported Friday
Public Health officials reported 97 new cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick on Friday, against 75 added recoveries. As of Friday, the active case count in the province stands at 711 active cases.
Friday’s update also confirmed two more people in New Brunswick have died from the virus, including a person in their 70s in the Moncton region and a person in their 50s in the Fredericton region.
The new cases included 34 in the Fredericton health zone, 27 in the Saint John region, 20 in the Miramichi area, 13 in the Moncton health zone, two in the Bathurst region, and one in the Campbellton area.
There are now 207 active cases in the Moncton region, 194 in the Saint John zone, 176 in the Fredericton health region, 110 in the Miramichi area, 15 in the Campbellton zone, and nine in the Bathurst health region.
According to Dr. Russell, increases in infections and hospitalizations over the past two weeks are still coming disproportionately from a number of those who are unvaccinated, sharing the rate of infected cases was 8.8 per 100,000 fully vaccinated New Brunswickers, versus 32.9 per 100,000 thousand who were unvaccinated, a rate Dr. Russell stated was “nearly four times higher” than those cases among those who had been fully vaccinated.
Fifty-nine per cent of those hospitalized in the province are over the age of 60, a segment already eligible for a third dose booster of the vaccine.
As of Friday, there were 49 New Brunswickers in the hospital with COVID-19, including 16 in intensive care. Nine of the patients are on a ventilator.
Eighteen of the 49 people hospitalized were initially admitted for other reasons and contracted COVID-19 due to outbreaks at hospitals in Moncton, Saint John and Miramichi. Public Health said most of those infected are currently exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms.
Russell confirmed that booster eligibility for approved COVID-19 vaccines will be expanded to those in their 50s sometime next week, followed by those in their 40s “in the coming weeks” before becoming available for all other New Brunswickers.
So far, over 53,000 third dose vaccinations have already been administered in the province, according to Dr. Russell, whose main message to New Brunswickers ahead of the holidays was to, “avoid gatherings during the weeks ahead,” saying with the Omicron variant emerging, public health is now monitoring 55 people who have travelled to the 10 countries where the new variant was known to be present – with those having been directed to self-isolate doing so in their homes, confirming later that those which public health officials continue to monitor are, “spread out across the province.”
Levels 2 and 3 of the Winter Action Plan were briefly touched on by Shephard, who directed New Brunswickers to review the steps on the province’s website.
Shephard did share that both levels two and three would include reduced household bubbles, lower capacities for public spaces such as retail and restaurants and no travel into or out of areas.
“At this time, the education system will continue to follow existing plans for schools and for early learning and childcare facilities,” she said.
“As for how we determine the level criteria has been identified, that will cause public health to look closer at what is occurring in specific areas or zones, said Shephard. “These criteria are based on things like the number of active cases, the rate of positive tests and hospitalizations.”
“We’ve been through these types of changes before,” said Dr. Russell, who again urged the public to avoid large gatherings for the sake of everyone who wants to have as normal of a Christmas as possible.
