HALIFAX -- Health officials in New Brunswick announced their 26th COVID-19 related death on Monday.

Public health says the individual, who is in their 80s, was a resident of the Manoir Belle Vue in the Edmundston region (Zone 4).

“Marcia and I are truly sorry to hear of the loss of another person to COVID-19,” said Premier Blaine Higgs. “On behalf of all New Brunswickers, we extend heartfelt condolences to this person’s loved ones.”

“I offer sincere sympathy to the family and friends of this individual,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health. “I ask all New Brunswickers to keep them in their thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”

SIXTH U.K. VARIANT CASE CONFIRMED

The sixth case of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant, also known as the U.K. variant, has been confirmed in New Brunswick. In a news release from the province on Monday, they say the original positive case was in the Edmundston region (Zone 4).

The sample was sent to Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory in early February from Moncton's Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre's microbiology lab.

OPPOSITION CALLS FOR REVIEW OF LONG-TERM CARE HOME

The Manoir Belle Vue long-term care home in New Brunswick's Edmundston region (Zone 4) has had at least 90 positive COVID-19 cases among residents and staff to date.

Interim Liberal Leader Roger Melanson said WorkSafeNB, the province's workplace safety agency, had identified gaps in the operational pandemic plan of Manoir Belle Vue.

"While WorkSafe has stated that these gaps were addressed, we believe the high number of Covid-19-related deaths in the facility warrants at least a review on behalf of government," Melanson said in a statement Monday.

Officials with WorkSafeNB refused a request for comment about the deaths at the Manoir Belle Vue. A spokesperson said the agency had already spoken to media last week about the long-term care home.

Melanson said his party had called for an "emergency measures centre" to co-ordinate various government resources to respond to staffing, logistics and communications needs in the Edmundston region, which until recently had been under lockdown.

"I think this centre could have helped identify and address any gaps still existing in the (region's) long-term care facilities," Melanson said.

UPDATES TO PROVINCE'S CASE COUNT

In a news release on Monday, public health says they are revising the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick due to a false positive result.

According to health officials, an individual who previously tested positive in the Fredericton region (Zone 3) has been removed from the confirmed list of cases due to the "identification of false positive results."

Public health says the lab is currently working to determine the cause of the false positive.

"When Public Health evaluates the results of its tests, it considers the epidemiological links and case information to determine the likelihood for these to be positive," wrote public health in a news release on Monday. "In certain rare situations, such as this one, the results were not in keeping with the patient information or the COVID-19 activity in the area, so the samples were retested. The individual involved is being informed of the negative result."

ONE NEW COVID-19 CASE

New Brunswick public health identified one new case of COVID-19 on Monday. The new case is in the Edmundston region (Zone 4) and involves an individual in their 40s. The person is self-isolating, as required.

Two of the provinces previously reported cases are now recovered, dropping New Brunswick's total active cases to 84.

COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE

Public health says as part of their goal to protect the province's most vulnerable and maintain the continuity of health-care services, all new vaccines arriving in New Brunswick are being used to complete the vaccination of staff and residents in long-term care facilities.

Clinics for more than 5,200 residents living in 193 long-term care facilities are scheduled to take place this week.  Health officials also say more than 1,000 other people are scheduled to receive the second dose of the vaccine at the upcoming clinics.

UPDATE ON VACCINES

New Brunswick's COVID-19 online dashboard provides an update on the amount of vaccines that have been administered to date.

As of Monday, 26,317 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far, with 11,036 people in New Brunswick having received a second dose.

The province has received a total of 35,015 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and are holding 8,698 in reserve for second doses and planned clinics.

NEW BRUNSWICK COVID-19 DATA

New Brunswick has had 1,424 cumulative confirmed cases since the pandemic began. In total, 1,313 people have recovered, and 26 people have died in the province from COVID-19.

Two people are in hospital with COVID-19, and one is in an intensive care unit.

Public health says 428 tests were done on Sunday in New Brunswick and 224,023 total since the start of the pandemic.

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

  • Zone 1 – Moncton region: 333 confirmed cases (7 active cases)
  • Zone 2 – Saint John region: 222 confirmed cases (3 active cases)
  • Zone 3 – Fredericton region: 237 confirmed cases (0 active cases)
  • Zone 4 – Edmundston region: 414 confirmed cases (72 active cases)
  • Zone 5 – Campbellton region: 182 confirmed cases (0 active cases)
  • Zone 6 – Bathurst region: 27 confirmed cases (1 active case)
  • Zone 7 – Miramichi region: 9 confirmed cases (1 active case)

VEHICLE TRAFFIC INFORMATION

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

On Sunday, 693 personal and 753 commercial vehicles attempted to cross the border into the province.

Of the vehicles attempting to cross the border, 19 were refused entry, for a refusal rate of 1.3 per cent. 

With files from The Canadian Press.