'The rate is concerning': N.B. reports 100 new COVID-19 cases Saturday as active cases rise to 929

HALIFAX -

Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting 100 new cases of COVID-19 and 52 recoveries on Saturday, as the total number of active cases in the province rises to 929.

According to health officials, 66 of Saturday's 100 new cases, or 66 per cent, are not fully vaccinated. Five cases are partially vaccinated, and 29 cases are fully vaccinated.

The province says there are currently 56 people in hospital in New Brunswick due to COVID-19, with 23 in an intensive care unit.

“The rate is concerning. We aren’t at the point of a crisis, but we’re pretty close right now,” says Dr. Mark MacMillan, President of the New Brunswick Medical Society. “We’re managing, but we can’t take an influx of much more, and if we do we’re looking at elective surgeries being cancelled and postponed.”

Of those currently in hospital, 41 are unvaccinated, four are partially vaccinated, and 11 are fully vaccinated.

“We’re hoping that the restrictions are going to flatten and decrease the curve for us,” adds MacMillan. “We are having more patients come into hospital, we’ve had some more admissions to ICU. I just found out yesterday that we now have patients who are pregnant in the ICU setting.”

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND GATHERING LIMITS

New Brunswickers are being asked to limit their Thanksgiving weekend gatherings to the people living in their household.

Public health says all New Brunswickers, including those who are not covered by the circuit breaker, must not have gatherings anywhere other than a place at which the law requires proof of vaccination with anyone they do not currently live with during the Thanksgiving long weekend, between 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, and 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 11.

"We have seen a high number of cases sparked from private gatherings and these are resulting in transmission of the virus across the province, particularly amongst the unvaccinated," said Russell on Wednesday. "I understand this is difficult but, in an effort to reduce the spread, New Brunswickers must not have gatherings at their homes during Thanksgiving weekend."

Public health says the household can be extended to include caregivers for any of those people, plus any parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild of those people who requires support, along with any one additional person who lives alone at another address who requires support.

All businesses may remain open for regular operations but must follow measures listed under the mandatory order. This includes businesses that are not required to see proof of vaccination, such as hair salons, retail and grocery stores, and those that are required to request proof of vaccination, such as restaurants and entertainment venues. Children under 12 accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult will also be admitted.

COVID-19 CASE DATA

New Brunswick has had 5,087 cumulative cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

In total, 4,085 people have recovered and 72 people have died in the province from COVID-19.

Public health says a total of 487,733 COVID-19 tests have been processed since the start of the pandemic.

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

• Zone 1 – Moncton region: 1,426 confirmed cases (336 active cases)
• Zone 2 – Saint John region: 466 confirmed cases (64 active cases)
• Zone 3 – Fredericton region: 1,099 confirmed cases (207 active cases)
• Zone 4 – Edmundston region: 1,225 confirmed cases (159 active case)
• Zone 5 – Campbellton region: 487 confirmed cases (80 active cases)
• Zone 6 – Bathurst region: 258 confirmed cases (50 active cases)
• Zone 7 – Miramichi region: 126 confirmed cases (33 active cases)

Thirty-four new cases were reported in the Moncton region (Zone 1) involving:

• 19 people age 19 and under
• one person in their 20s
• four people in their 30s
• five people in their 40s
• four people in their 60s
• one person in their 70s

Nineteen cases are under investigation and 15 are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

Four new cases were reported in the Saint John region (Zone 2) involving:

• one person age 19 and under
• one person in their 20s
• two people in their 60s

Three cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases and one case is under investigation.

Twenty-one new cases were reported in the Fredericton region (Zone 3) involving:

• nine people age 19 and under
• three people in their 30s
• four people in their 40s
• two people in their 50s
• one person in their 60s
• one person in their 70s
• one person in their 80s

Nineteen cases are under investigation and two are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

Thirteen new cases were reported in the Edmundston region (Zone 4) involving:

• five people age 19 and under
• two people in their 30s
• one person in their 40s
• one person in their 50s
• two people in their 60s
• two people in their 70s

Ten cases are under investigation and three are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

Eleven new cases were reported in the Campbellton region (Zone 5) involving:

• two people age 19 and under
• three people in their 20s
• one person in their 30s
• two people in their 40s
• one person in their 50s
• two people in their 70s

Ten cases are under investigation and one is a contact of a previously confirmed case.

Seven new cases were reported in the Bathurst region (Zone 6), involving:

• two people age 19 and under
• two people in their 20s
• one person in their 30s
• one person in their 50s

Three cases are under investigation and three are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

Eleven new cases were reported in the Miramichi region (Zone 7) involving:

• five people age 19 and under
• one person in their 20s
• two people in their 30s
• one person in their 40s
• one person in their 60s
• one person in their 80s

Seven cases are under investigation and four are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

VACCINE UPDATE

As of Friday, 81.2 per cent of New Brunswickers age 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 90.3 per cent have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In total, 1,193,408 vaccine doses have been administered in New Brunswick.

All eligible New Brunswickers can book their second dose appointments now for a date that is at least 28 days after their first dose.

POTENTIAL PUBLIC EXPOSURES

A full list of potential COVID-19 exposure notifications in New Brunswick can be found on the province's website.

Anyone with symptoms of the virus, as well as anyone who has been at the site of a possible public exposure, is urged to request a test online or call Tele-Care at 811 to get an appointment.