Provincial officials will provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in New Brunswick on Thursday afternoon.
Premier Blaine Higgs and Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, will take part in the update.
It is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed on the Government of New Brunswick’s YouTube channel
In a tweet on Thursday morning, Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said that it is a “very important” news conference.
The update comes as active COVID-related hospitalizations reached a record high of 94 on Wednesday, which includes 10 people in intensive care.
Thirty-four of those in the hospital were admitted for reasons before testing positive for the virus.
New Brunswick is currently in Level 2 of the province’s COVID-19 winter plan. One of the criteria to consider moving to Level 3 — essentially a lockdown — is 100 active hospitalizations provincially or 50 active ICU hospitalizations.
Modelling data released by the province earlier this week suggests New Brunswick could see a peak of 220 active hospitalizations in late January or early February.
Mathieu Chalifoux, the province’s chief epidemiologist, said the peak number of cases and hospitalizations can be reduced by one-third from the current rate if people reduce their contact with others by 10 per cent — and two-thirds if people reduce contact with others by 20 per cent more than current levels – by January 14.
“The best way to prevent COVID-19 right now is to reduce your contacts. This small action will protect your family, reduce strain on the healthcare system and protect our economy,” said Chalifoux.
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