COVID-19: NB Reports 87 New Cases as Stocks for Children’s Vaccine Flood in – New Brunswick | The Canadian News

New Brunswick reported 87 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and announced that more than 6,200 vaccination appointments have been made for children ages five to 11 since then. open reservations for that age group the day before.

The province will begin vaccinating children in that age group on Friday. The vaccine will first be offered through regional health authority clinics, but will soon be available through participating pharmacies and some doctors.

“It’s wonderful to see so many appointments booked for the clinics, starting across the province on Friday,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer for health, in a statement. “This is an important step forward in reducing the spread of the virus and protecting all New Brunswick residents.”

According to the province, 87.6 percent of New Brunswick residents age 12 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and 93.5 percent have received their first dose. The province has previously said that children will be added to those statistics starting Monday, which may cause reported vaccination rates to decline.

There have been 60 new recoveries since Tuesday, leaving a total of 692 active cases.

Outbreaks at Moncton Hospital

There are 45 people in the hospital, 19 of whom are in intensive care. Of those hospitalized, 11 contracted the virus due to ongoing outbreaks at Moncton Hospital, the province said.

Horizon Health Network announced Wednesday that a fourth unit at Moncton Hospital, Unit 3600, the family medicine and hospice unit, is being affected by the outbreaks.

Three other units – the rehabilitation unit, the geriatric and family medicine unit, and the stroke and family medicine unit – also have outbreaks.

“Our staff and physicians have acted swiftly to care for COVID-19 patients and to identify and isolate patients who may have been exposed,” said Dr. John Dornan, Horizon’s Acting President and CEO, in a statement. “We are working diligently and with increased precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19 at this facility.”

Moncton Hospital has 16 inpatient units and currently, a quarter of the hospital units are affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. Additionally, the hospital has 21 COVID-19 patients in its COVID-19 inpatient unit and three COVID-19 patients in its intensive care unit (ICU).

Outbreak details and our response

A COVID-19 outbreak was declared today in TMH’s Family Medicine and Palliative Care Unit (Unit 3600). This outbreak is limited to one unit, which is now on lockdown and follows outbreak protocols.

This outbreak is independent of the outbreaks reported to TMH earlier this week in the rehabilitation unit (Unit 4400), the geriatric and family medicine unit (Unit 5100) and the stroke and family medicine unit (Unit 4600). These three outbreaks are related.

As of today at 3pm, 20 patients and 4 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 in relation to all four outbreak units.

In all units affected by the outbreak, Horizon has proactively implemented the following measures:

• In declaring the outbreak, Horizon implemented comprehensive Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) precautions, such as improved cleaning and contact tracing to protect the health of patients and staff.
• Hospitalized patients are screened for COVID-19 symptoms twice a day (every 12 hours).
• Better screening of hospital staff and doctors will be implemented.
• Patient testing in the outbreak units will continue this week and staff testing continues. We hope that more cases will be identified over the next week. As a precautionary measure, patients and staff from an additional family medicine unit (5,200) are being screened today.
• The movement of staff and patients in the affected units has been modified to minimize exposure to others.
• Designated Support Persons (DSP) have been temporarily suspended in outbreak units, with the exception of palliative care patients who meet a certain classification. Only essential DSPs (those involved in patient feeding or bathing, etc.) are allowed in all other units.
• Horizon has notified all patients and loved ones in affected units of the outbreak, and the staff is working diligently to provide care and comfort to our patients during this outbreak.
• Horizon is also working with Public Health and affected units to identify anyone who may have been exposed and is taking steps to protect the health of all staff, patients, and families.

Breakdown of the case

The 19 new cases in Zone 1 (Moncton region) are as follows:

• six people under the age of 19;
• two people 20-29;
• four people 30-39;
• two people 40-49;
• a person from 50 to 59;
• two people 60-69; and
• two people 70-79.

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

The 29 new cases in Zone 2 (Saint John region) are as follows:

• 10 people under 19 years of age;
• five people 20-29;
• two people 30-39;
• four people 40-49;
• two people 50-59;
• five people 60-69; and
• a person 80-89.

Twenty-two cases are under investigation and seven are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

The 20 new cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton region) are as follows:

• six people under the age of 19;
• a person from 20 to 29 years old;
• three people 30-39;
• three people 40-49;
• four people 50-59;
• a person from 60 to 69 years old; and
• two people 70-79.

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

The two new cases in Zone 6 (Bathurst region) are as follows:

• a person from 20 to 29 years old; and
• a person 50-59.

One case is a contact from a previously confirmed case and the other case is under investigation.

The 17 new cases in Zone 7 (Miramichi region) are as follows:

• four people 19 years of age or younger;
• three people 20-29;
• a person from 30 to 39 years old;
• five people between 40 and 49 years old;
• a person from 50 to 59; and
• three people 60-69.

Nine cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases and eight cases are under investigation.

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