N.B. reports 16 new COVID-19 cases; province cautions against Super Bowl gatherings

N.B. cautions against Super Bowl gatherings On Thursday, N.B. announced 16 new COVID-19 cases and also cautioned residents against gathering on Super Bowl Sunday. Laura Lyall reports.

HALIFAX — New Brunswick health officials have identified 16 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and 24 recoveries, dropping the total number of active infections in the province to 256.

The cases have been identified in the Moncton region, Fredericton region, Edmundston region, and the Bathurst region.

The five cases in Zone 1 (Moncton) involve:

The one case in Zone 3 (Fredericton) involves:

The nine cases in Zone 4 (Edmundston) involve:

The one case in Zone 6 (Bathurst) involves:

"Despite the fatigue we are all feeling at this stage in the pandemic, we must stay the course and continue to follow the rules," said Health Minister Dorothy Shephard. "By restricting our borders and following strict self-isolation guidelines now, we will be able to get outbreaks under control. If we stay on the right track, we will eventually be able to move throughout the province more freely and may even be able to consider reopening the Atlantic Bubble."

SUPER BOWL SAFETY

New Brunswick health officials also said they would prefer if residents don't gather over the weekend to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.

“Limit your gatherings to your immediate household and keep it to just a few from your steady 10 if you're having people over to watch the game. If everyone keeps their gathering small it will give us a better chance to trace contacts should infections happen,” said chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell. “You can still cheer for your favourite team, but keep in mind that the pandemic is still with us. No one wants their Super Bowl party to turn into a super spreader event. With a variant now increasing the risks, we need to be more vigilant.”

Shephard and chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell said that if people do want to watch the game together, groups should be as small as possible.

CONFIRMED CASE AT GARDERIE MÉLUBULLES (ZONE 4)

A positive case of COVID-19 has been confirmed at Garderie Mélubulles in Edmundston and families have been notified. Public Health notes the child-care facility will close for the next two days to allow contact tracing to be completed.

Residents who have been in close contact with a case will be notified by Public Health. If residents do not hear directly from Public Health, they have not been identified as a close contact.

COVID-19 DATA

New Brunswick has had 1,318 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. In total, 1,043 people have recovered, and 18 people have died as a result of the novel coronavirus.

Five people are currently in hospital, with two in the intensive care unit, according to public health.

Public health says 1,124 COVID-19 tests were completed on Wednesday – 205,919 tests have been administered in total since the pandemic began.

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

REMINDER OF RED AND ORANGE LEVELS AND LOCKDOWN RULES

On Thursday, the province noted Zone 1 (Moncton region) is at the Red level, and Zone 4 (Edmundston region) remains in lockdown.

"The steps we have taken to reduce the transmission of this virus are having an impact," said Dr. Russell. "I want to thank New Brunswickers for following the directives of Public Health and encourage them to keep it up. On Monday, we will be reassessing the current situation and if things continue to trend the way they are, we could see changes to the alert levels in Zone 1, the Moncton region, and Zone 4, the Edmundston region."

Shephard said infections are trending downward in both the Moncton and Edmundston regions.

All other zones remain in the Orange level under the province's mandatory order.

EXPOSURE NOTIFICATION

Public Health has identified a potential public exposure to the virus at the following location in Zone 3 (Fredericton):

VEHICLE TRAFFIC INFORMATION

New Brunswick's online dashboard includes information about vehicle traffic attempting to enter the New Brunswick border.

On Wednesday, 1,403 personal and 501 commercial vehicles attempted to cross the border into the province.

Of the vehicles attempting to cross the border, 14 were refused entry, for a refusal rate of 0.7 per cent.