HALIFAX -- New Brunswick Public Health is reporting 14 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total number of active cases to 119 in the province.

The new cases include four cases in Zone 1, nine cases in Zone 2, and one case in Zone 6.

To date, the number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick is 495 and 369 have recovered. There have been seven deaths, and the number of active cases is 119 with no one in hospital – 123,883 tests have been conducted.

14 NEW CASES

The four cases in Zone 1 (Moncton region) are as follows:

  • One individual under 19
  • One individual 20-29
  • Two people 40-49

The nine cases in Zone 2 (Saint John region) are as follows:

  • Three people under 19
  • One individual 30-39
  • One individual 50-59
  • Two people 80-89
  • Two people 90 and over

All cases in Zone 1 and Zone 2 are self-isolating and are under investigation.

The single case in Zone 6 (Bathurst region) is an individual in their 30s and is travel-related. The individual is self-isolating.

“All of the cases in Saint John currently have been linked. I think that’s as much as I can say right now,” says chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell. “We’ve seen these outbreaks in other parts of the province before; we have experience now in terms of how to rapidly deploy the PROMT team and really get on top of the situation as quickly as possible.”

As of Sunday, health officials say Zone 2 won't be moving to the Red level of New Brunswick's recovery plan – but that possibility hasn’t been ruled out.

"We meet on a very regular basis about all three zones that are in the orange phase to continue to monitor those situations," says Russell. "My understanding, right now, is that they're not at risk of going to red, at least not at this point in time in Saint John – but again, that can change."

OUTBREAK AT PARKLAND SAINT JOHN CAMPUS

Follow-up testing recently occurred at the Parkland Saint John complex.

Tests processed at the microbiology laboratory identified six new positive cases for a total of 15 confirmed cases (10 residents and five employees).

Parkland Retirement Living is a division of Shannex, which says it's doing everything it can to contain the outbreak.

“In environments like this, there’s people providing up-close personal care that’s much needed for our residents,” says Shannex director of clinical practice and infection control specialist Lisa Snodgrass. “It’s really important we identify who is in contact, what kind of personal protective equipment they would have had in place; as we all know, masks are certainly mandatory.”

Snodgrass says all residents are doing as well as can be expected and are being provided extra support throughout the isolation-period

However, advocates are wondering how such outbreaks are continuing to happen.

“How many more people does it need to affect before we need to shut down the zone?” says Coalition for Seniors and Nursing Home Residents' Rights executive director Cecile Cassista. “I think it should be shut down now for a couple of weeks and bring this to a head.”

Members of the PROMT (Provincial Rapid Outbreak Management Team) remain on site at Parkland Saint John, providing support for residents and the facility’s clinical care team. Support includes testing and working in collaboration with the facility’s infection prevention control specialist to strengthen infection control measures.

The next round of mass testing will occur over a two-day period starting Monday.