FREDERICTON --
There are no new cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick for the seventh consecutive day, but with the long weekend coming up, the province's chief medical officer of health reminded people to protect themselves and others by following public health directives.
"Caution is still required, we must protect those who are at great risk from this disease," Dr. Russell said during a news conference in Fredericton on Wednesday afternoon.
Staying home as much as possible, maintaining physical distancing, and frequent hand-washing are excellent ways to do both, she said.
As for wearing a mask when people cannot maintain physical distancing, she reminded people of the reason why this is important.
"Wearing a mask shows that you care about the health of your fellow New Brunswickers," Dr. Russell said.
There remain only two active cases of the 120 people who had a positive test; neither are in hospital. In the last 24 hours, there were 473 tests.
"We have achieved good results because of your actions, so please continue what you're doing," Dr. Russell said.
Although given the go-ahead last Friday, some New Brunswick businesses have chosen to stay closed.
They are looking for more instructions on what they need to have in place.
Dr. Russell reminded businesses Wednesday that there is a phone line available through Opportunities New Brunswick to call with questions.
"Having that open communication is really important and having a way to get answers to their questions is really important," Dr. Russell said.
She says an "isolation room," where staff enter to get their temperature checked, is only recommended, not required.
"The isolation rooms is for people who show symptoms, so obviously if you're encouraging people to not come to your establishment if they have symptoms, then that's the best way to avoid that," Dr. Russell said.
If a business is wondering whether they're in good shape to open, they can request a visit, but they could get one anyway.
"We will actually send out people to work with a particular business, if there is a request to come and visit the site," said Premier Blaine Higgs. "Then Worksafe NB will visit the site or compliance officers will visit the site. So we will do that as a request and we will do that randomly."
Higgs says a Canadian Federation of Business survey shows about 26 per cent of New Brunswick businesses were open at the start of this week.