HALIFAX -- New Brunswick has announced 14 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total active case number in the province to 184.

On Sunday, New Brunswick Health reported four cases in Zone 2 (Saint John region), five cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton region), three cases in Zone 4 (Edmundston region), one case in Zone 5 (Campbellton region), and one case in Zone 6 (Bathurst region).

The four cases in Zone 2 (Saint John) involve:

  • Two individual in their 30s
  • An individual in their 40s
  • An individual in their 80s

The five cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton) involve:

  • Two individuals 19 or younger
  • An individual in their 20s
  • Two individuals in their 30s

The three cases in Zone 4 (Edmundston) involve:

  • Two individual in their 20s
  • A individual in their 50s

The case in Zone 5 (Campbellton) involves:

  • An individual in their 50s

The case in Zone 6 (Bathurst) involves:

  • An individual in their 20s

The New Brunswick government says all cases are self-isolating and being investigated.

“The COVID-19 virus is all around us,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health. “If you have any symptoms, please get tested and follow Public Health guidance and advice. By getting tested and properly self-isolating when required, we will help protect our health-care system and our vaccination roll-out plan.”

UPDATE ON SCHOOLS IN ZONE THREE (FREDERICTON AREA)

On Friday, three cases were confirmed at Woodstock High School, and one at Townsview School in Woodstock.

On Sunday, the province issued an update saying Townsview School and Woodstock High School will both have operational response days on Monday.

On Monday, students will stay home while school staff prepare for remote learning. On Tuesday, they will begin learning from home and continue to learn remotely until at least Friday. The situation will be re-assessed at the end of the week and families will be notified by school staff of any impacts on learning for the week of Jan. 18 -22.

“I understand this is an incredibly stressful time for families and I want to thank everyone for their patience,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Dominic Cardy. “I want to assure everyone that school, district and department staff are working closely with Public Health to address these situations and keep our schools healthy and safe. We are committed to keeping families informed as the situation evolves and being part of the collective effort to keep our students and staff safe.”

UPDATE ON SCHOOLS IN ZONE FIVE (CAMPBELLTON AREA)

On Friday, a positive case was confirmed at Académie Notre-Dame in Dalhousie, and another at Polyvalente Roland-Pépin in Campbellton.

On Sunday, the province announced operational response plans are being rolled out for both schools. School staff will reach out to families directly on Sunday regarding any impacts on learning throughout.

BETTER THAN RISING NUMBERS

Sunday's lower case numbers are cause for hope for the province, but daily case counts could still rise.

"This is better news than seeing the number of cases go up," says Dr. Russell. " But again, I think we have a lot of time ahead of us, and [we] could still see cases go up."

Dr. Russell says there are over 1,500-hundred people in New Brunswick who are in self-isolation right now.

"Obviously, some of those people who were close contacts of cases are going to be tested on day-10," says Dr. Russell. "So, we're still going to be waiting for those test results."

COVID-19 IN CARE HOMES

Shannex's Tucker Hall reported three new COVID-19 cases on Saturday night, which included one resident and two employees – bringing the facility's case total to 24.

Meanwhile, another round of testing at Tucker Hall is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.

VACCINE FOLLOW UP

People who received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in December were told to return to Miramichi over the weekend to receive their second dose.

"It's slow-going early on, just because we're so limited in the small quantities in the doses we're going to receive of the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna [vaccine]," says Russell. "But we do have a schedule, and on a weekly basis, we will be receiving those shipments and immediately doing the immunizations for that population."

Public Health's goal was to deliver 1,800 vaccinations on Saturday and Sunday. An updated number will be provided on Monday.

NEW TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

Students who travel into N.B. from other provinces (because of formal custody or care agreements) are now required to get weekly COVID-19 tests.

The New Brunswick government says this also applies to students from kindergarten to grade eight living in Quebec or Nova Scotia who study in New Brunswick.

The state of emergency, first declared on March 19, 2020, was revised Friday. It remains in place.

As of Sunday, the entire province remains at the Orange Level of recovery.

CASE BREAKDOWN

New Brunswick has had 779 cumulative cases of COVID-19. 585 have recovered, and there have been nine deaths.

As of Sunday, New Brunswick has conducted 162,098 tests.

CASE LOCATIONS

The number of cases are broken down by New Brunswick’s seven health zones:

  • Zone 1 – Moncton region: 200 total confirmed cases (47 active cases)
  • Zone 2 – Saint John region: 167 total (37 active cases)
  • Zone 3 – Fredericton region: 179 total (59 active cases)
  • Zone 4 – Edmundston region: 53 total (19 active cases)
  • Zone 5 – Campbellton region: 159 total (21 active cases)
  • Zone 6 – Bathurst region: 15 total (1 active case)
  • Zone 7 – Miramichi region: 6 total (0 active cases)

VEHICLE TRAFFIC INFORMATION

New Brunswick's online dashboard includes information about vehicle traffic attempting to enter the province.

On Saturday, 778 personal and 730 commercial vehicles attempted to cross the border into the province.

Of the vehicles attempting to cross the border, 24 were refused entry, for a refusal rate of 1.6 per cent.