COVID-19: NB Reports 1 New Death, 61 New Cases As State of Emergency Goes into Effect – New Brunswick | The Canadian News

New Brunswick reports a new death and 61 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday as the province re-enters its pandemic state of emergency.

It is the first time in weeks that the province has released a COVID-19 update in a weekend.

The person who died was in his 70s in Zone 3, the Fredericton region, the province said in a statement. That death marks the 53rd COVID-related death in New Brunswick.

“Our thoughts go out to this person’s family and friends and to all who have lost a loved one or become ill due to COVID-19,” said Prime Minister Blaine Higgs.

“We must all do our part to protect each other, please, if you can, by getting vaccinated.”

One more person has been hospitalized since Friday’s count, for a total of 32 people. Of them, 13 are in ICU. No one under the age of 19 is hospitalized.

State of emergency

The province announced on Friday that it would restore its state of emergency due to the increasing number of hospitalizations. Higgs said 25 people at the hospital was the “trigger” for calling a state of emergency, and it will remain until hospitalizations across the province are 10 or less.

Starting at 11:59 p.m. From Friday, the following restrictions apply:

• People should limit their contacts to their home plus 20 consistent contacts.
• Indoor private meetings will be limited to 20 consistent contacts.
• There will be no limits to outdoor gatherings, as long as physical detachment is maintained.
• Businesses and events where people gather or exercise, including museums, cinemas, theaters, bingo halls, casinos, entertainment centers, stadiums, game rooms, pool halls, live entertainment venues, weddings, funerals, Gyms, yoga studios and similar venues must ensure all employees are fully vaccinated or continuously masked and screened regularly. Sponsors and participants entering such events must be fully vaccinated.
• Physical distancing is required in businesses, services, or events where proof of vaccination is not required, such as supermarkets and retail stores, private businesses, and libraries.
• Places of Faith have the option of ensuring that all participants show proof of complete vaccination or implement the following measures:
  • operate at 50 percent of its capacity;
  • maintain physical distancing;
  • ensure continued use of the mask;
  • record the names of all attendees or have assigned seats;
  • eliminate the singing of services; and
  • Prevent people with COVID-19 symptoms and people who have been instructed to self-isolate from entering.

These measures are in addition to restrictions announced earlier this week, which include individuals presenting proof of vaccination to attend certain events and businesses, mandatory interior masking for all public spaces, and the need for individuals to pre-register to through the New Brunswick Travel Registration Program before entering the provinces.

The province also announced Thursday that it will begin offering a third dose of an mRNA vaccine to certain groups of immunosuppressed people.

The end of the restrictions was short-lived

The province has seen a large increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks and hospitalizations have increased.

Prime Minister Higgs has been criticized for pushing the province into the green phase in late July, before reaching his initial goal of 75 percent of eligible people being fully vaccinated.

But Ray Harris, a data analyst who has been closely monitoring the province’s COVID-19 numbers, noted that at the time, case numbers were low and other jurisdictions were not yet seeing the full effects of lifting their restrictions. , although he believes Higgs should have waited until the vaccination goal was reached.

Even as cases continued to appear this summer, active cases remained stable until the explosion of cases in recent weeks.

“It didn’t all come off, yet,” Harris said, adding that it “got out of control” pretty quickly.

He said New Brunswick was slow to re-implement the restrictions when things started to go wrong. Harris believes it will take at least a week or two after the new restrictions before we see a stabilization and decline in cases.

He made an analogy of a person with tooth sensitivity who postpones a visit to the dentist and ends up needing a root canal.

“And now we are in the root canal portion.”

New cases

With 53 new recoveries, New Brunswick’s active case count has risen to 580. Of the 61 new cases, 52, or 85 percent, are not fully vaccinated.

The new cases include six in Zone 1, the Moncton region, involving two people age 19 and younger, two people in their 20s and two people in their 30s. Of these, five cases are under investigation and one is a contact for a previously confirmed case.

There are four new cases in Zone 2, the Saint John region, involving two people 19 years old or younger, one person 20 years old, and one person 30 years old. All are close contacts of previously reported cases.

Sixteen cases were found in Zone 3, the Fredericton region. They involve two people 19 years of age or younger, one person 20 years old, one person 30 years, two people 40 years old, three people 50 years old, three people 60 years old, three people 70 years old, and one person 80 years old. Eight cases are under investigation and the other eight are close contacts of previously confirmed cases.

There are 18 cases in Zone 4, the Edmundston region, involving five people who are 19 years old or younger, three people in their 20s, one person in their 30s, five people in their 40s, three people in their 50s, and one person. 80 years old. Twelve cases are under investigation and six are contacts of previously reported cases.

Nine new cases were reported in Zone 5, the Campbellton region, involving five people 19 years old or younger, one person 20 years old, two people 30 years old and one person 40 years old. Eight are contacts of previously reported cases and one is under investigation.

Zone 6, the Bathurst region, had six new cases, involving one person 19 years old or younger, three people 20 years old, one person 70 years old, and one person 80 years old. Five are under investigation and one is a contact from a previous case.

And two new cases in Zone 7, the Miramichi region, involve a person 19 years old or younger and a person 20 years old. One is under investigation and the other is a contact from a previous case.

In the statement, the province said 87.7 percent of eligible New Brunswick residents have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 78.9 percent are fully vaccinated.