HALIFAX -- New Brunswick announced 19 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Seven previously reported cases are now considered recovered, increasing the number of active cases in the province to 230, the largest number of active cases in the province since the pandemic began.

On Wednesday, New Brunswick Health reported one case in Zone 1 (Moncton region), five cases in Zone 2 (Saint John region), three cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton region), eight cases in Zone 4 (Edmundston region), one case in Zone 5 (Campbellton region), and one case in Zone 6 (Bathurst region)

The new case in Zone 1 (Moncton) involves:

  • An individual in their 50s

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

  • An individual 19 and under
  • An individual in their 30s
  • An individual in their 50s
  • An individual in their 60s
  • An individual in their 70s

The three cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton) involve:

  • An individual 19 and under
  • An individual in their 20s
  • An individual in their 40s

The eight cases in Zone 4 (Edmundston) involve:

  • An individual 19 and under
  • An individual in their 20s
  • Two people in their 40s
  • An individual in their 50s
  • An individual in their 60s
  • Two people in their 70s

The one case in Zone 5 (Campbellton) involves:

  • An individual in their 40s

The one case in Zone 6 (Bathurst) involves:

  • An individual in their 30s

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

TWELFTH DEATH REPORTED

A long-term care facility in Saint John, N.B. has confirmed a third resident died on Tuesday after testing positive for COVID-19.

Parkland Saint John confirmed the latest death in an email to residents and their families sent late Tuesday evening.

“We have received confirmation from Public Health that the resident who passed late yesterday had a positive test result returned for their last test. They had not tested positive for COVID-19 during previous rounds of testing,” wrote Greta Drapeau, General Manager of Parkland Saint John in an email.

Tuesday's three deaths all involved residents in Lily Court, a neighbourhood for seniors living with Alzheimer's and dementia, at Parkland Saint John's Tucker Hall.

Earlier Tuesday, Parkland confirmed a resident in their 70s and a resident in their 80s died of underlying complications including COVID-19, one in their 70s and one in their 80s.

“This has been a tragic time for everyone at Tucker Hall, especially for the families of those we have lost,” wrote Derek Green, Vice President, New Brunswick Operations in a post to the Shannex website. “We were privileged to be part of their lives. Each of them was a special member of our community and we will feel their loss greatly.”

The email also confirmed three additional cases of COVID-19 at Tucker Hall, increasing the total number of active cases at the facility to 25, with 14 residents and 11 employees having tested positive.

The latest cases involve two residents, one from Lily Court and one from Portland Court, as well as one employee from Lily Court.

Parkland says the resident of Portland Court was immediately moved to Lily Court, and Public Health is assisting Parkland staff in investigating and conducting thorough contact tracing.

All residents and employees of Tucker Hall will be retested on Thursday, and will undergo testing twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.

New Brunswick has now seen a total of 12 COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began.

NEW CASES IDENTIFIED AT TWO N.B. SCHOOLS

N.B. health is reporting a pair of positive COVID-19 cases at schools in the province.

One of the new cases was identified Tuesday at Edith Cavell Elementary School in Moncton (Zone 1).

The school was closed on Wednesday for an operational day to allow Public Health to complete contact tracing. Public health says anyone who has been in close contact with the case will be contacted.

A post on the school's Facebook page, School administration announced that they weill be closed again on Thursday for an at-home learning day while Public Health does contact tracing for a second positive case.

The other new case identified Tuesday was at Cité Des Jeunes A.-M.-Sormany, a French high school in Edmundston (Zone 4). 

Students followed their normal schedules on Wednesday, but public health says some students will continue learning from home in the coming days. Public health says anyone who has been in close contact with the case will be contacted.

On Tuesday, a positive case was reported at New Maryland Elementary School in the Fredericton region.

NINE DOLLARAMA STORES FORCED TO CLOSE

New Brunswick Public Health has ordered nine Dollarama stores from Oromocto to Edmundston to close for 48 hours because of a possible workplace exposure to COVID-19.

"While there is not believed to be a risk to the public, out of an abundance of caution the stores have been ordered to do a deep cleaning before being permitted to open again," public health said on Twitter.

Here is a list of the stores:

  • Woodstock Dollarama – 337 Connell St.
  • Edmundston Dollarama – 15 Mowin
  • Saint-Basile Dollarama – 11 Boul Centre, Madawaska Centre
  • Two Nations – 125 Two Nations Crossing, Fredericton
  • Main Street – 102 Main Street
  • Fredericton Smythe Street – 528 Smythe St.
  • Fredericton Corbett Centre – 5 Trinity Dr.
  • Fredericton Regent Mall – 1381 Regent St.
  • Fredericton Oromocto – 1198 Onondaga St.

VACCINE ROLL-OUT

New Brunswick health has added information about COVID-19 vaccination in the province to their online dashboard.

According to the dashboard, 7,732 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province as of Jan. 11.

The province has received a total of 11,175 doses of vaccine. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses to be administered several weeks apart - as of Jan. 11, 1,862 New Brunswickers have been fully vaccinated, with 3,443 residents currently awaiting their second dose of vaccine.

COVID ALERT APP

New Brunswick's chief doctor said on Monday that only nine per cent of the province has downloaded Canada's COVID-19 Alert app, and is encouraging more New Brunswickers to download the app.

The app, which can be downloaded through the Apple App Store or Google Play, notifies users if they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

CASE BREAKDOWN

New Brunswick has had 836 cumulative cases of COVID-19. 593 cases are considered recovered, and there have been 12 deaths.

There are currently three people in hospital due to COVID-19. No one is in intensive care at this time.

As of Wednesday, New Brunswick has conducted 166,003 tests.

CASE LOCATIONS

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

  • Zone 1 – Moncton region: 209 total confirmed cases (54 active cases)
  • Zone 2 – Saint John region: 176 total (42 active cases)
  • Zone 3 – Fredericton region: 193 total (68 active cases)
  • Zone 4 – Edmundston region: 71 total (37 active cases)
  • Zone 5 – Campbellton region: 165 total (27 active cases)
  • Zone 6 – Bathurst region: 16 total (2 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 Tuesday, 1,427 personal and 1,401 commercial vehicles attempted to cross the border into the province.

Of the vehicles attempting to cross the border, seven were refused entry, for a refusal rate of 0.2 per cent. 

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