FREDERICTON -- While New Brunswick didn’t announce any new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, many residents of the province are still struggling to adjust to this ‘new normal’.

In the last week alone, the Fredericton Food Bank has seen a 5-7% increase in the amount of families needing support.

“We’re now delivering to people’s homes at least three times a week, but more likely more as the demand continues to rise,” says Alex Boyd, Executive Director of the Fredericton Food Bank at Greener Village.

Boyd says the entire operation has had to change over the last week, to ensure they can get families the food they need for the foreseeable future.

When they get food donations, they have to keep them quarantined in their warehouse for a period of time, to ensure the virus isn’t transferred on the products.

Boyd says right now, it is money donations that are critical to keep them going.

“You have to have a bit of a ‘roll with the punches attitude’, says Boyd. “What are we going to do in order to meet our goals, which is to provide that food service for anyone who is in need?”

On Sunday, Fredericton Mayor Mike O'Brien announced that the city had reduced its operations down to 'essential services.'

"Our job is to protect the public, but also to protect our staff," said O'Brien. "We can deliver essential services which are clean water, waste water, fire, police, road maintenance, emergency repairs and 911 services. We've got to be able to deliver that to citizens, and we have to protect our staff so tha they're healthy enough to be able to deliver that."

The mayor says transit is still operating but reduced the number of routes, and garbage pick-up will only accept household waste, not large items or hazardous materials. The city has also suspended parking fees in metered spaces and parking lots.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health is encouraging people to look after themselves and others, both physically and mentally.

“I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy the fresh air,” said Russell. “Several things are closed but the outdoors is not one of them! There are many activities that you and your family can do outside that still respect social distancing practices. Go for a walk or hike, do yoga in the backyard or look for signs of spring," said Russell in a release.

Other New Brunswickers are taking to social media to spread information and make connections with the goal of making self-isolation a less lonely time.

“From a sort of social perspective, because I study sociology, it’s really interesting to watch how communities come together in times like this,” says Erin Fredericks, a sociology professor at the University of St. Thomas in Fredericton.

Fredericks helped start a Facebook page for those in the Fredericton area to share information as they self isolate. It now has over 2000 members.

“You have people posting bread recipes, trying them out for the first time, or folks that are taking on new hobbies, or learning more about what their kids are learning in school,” says Frederick. “There’s some interesting social dynamics that come out of having to shift the way that we live.”

N.B. Premier Blaine Higgs also sent out a video message via Twitter on Sunday, thanking New Brunswickers for taking the province's warnings seriously.

Higgs declared a state of emergency for New Brunswick on Thursday, giving his government power to enforce business closures and social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We’re Canadians, we bond together in extraordinary times,” adds Boyd.

A community trying to figure out how to make the best of a difficult situation, with no idea on how long the shift will be necessary.