HALIFAX -- New Brunswick is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, all in the Miramichi region (zone 7).
Premier Blaine Higgs told reporters on Wednesday the cases involve temporary foreign workers who arrived from Mexico. The province confirmed in a release that the new cases are all temporary foreign workers, between 30 and 39 years old, who arrived in Moncton and began immediately self-isolating, prior to taking up their jobs in Miramichi.
On day 10 these four workers were tested and diagnosed. They will continue to self-isolate until cleared by Public Health. Because they were destined to work in the Miramichi region (Zone 7) they are considered Zone 7 cases by Public Health.
"The system caught these workers before they went out," Higgs said. "The contact tracing is being done. It (the screening system) has been able to contain it to this group, and we feel confident that's as far as it will go at this stage."
“Self-isolation at the time of diagnosis is the goal, which means the risk of transmission is the lowest it can possibly be, limiting the number of cases,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health. “Our protocols are working.”
Previous to Wednesday, New Brunswick had not reported a new case in 15 days, with the last new case coming July 20.
The province has recorded 174 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March. Two people have died, and there are now four active cases.
On Tuesday, 298 tests were done for COVID-19. As of Wednesday, a total of 53,699 tests have been conducted since the pandemic started.
VEHICLE TRAFFIC INFORMATION
New Brunswick's online dashboard includes information about vehicle traffic attempting to enter the New Brunswick border.
On Tuesday, 12,991 personal and 3,684 commercial vehicles attempted to cross the border into the province; 190 vehicles were refused for a refusal rate of 1.14 per cent.
