New Brunswick reports three new cases of COVID-19; 24 active cases

Three new cases of COVID-19 in N.B. None are connected to the outbreak in Moncton, but health officials say second wave has arrived. Jonathan MacInnis reports.

HALIFAX — New Brunswick is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. A previously reported case has recovered, and there are now 24 active cases in the province.

The three new cases are not linked to the outbreak at Manoir Notre-Dame in Moncton.

One of the cases is being reported in the Saint John region (Zone 2), an individual between the ages of 40 and 49 who had recently travelled outside the Atlantic bubble and is now self-isolating.

Another case being reported is in the Fredericton region (Zone 3), an individual between the ages of 20 and 29 who had recently travelled outside the Atlantic bubble and is now self-isolating.

The third case is an individual in the Campbellton region (Zone 5). That case remains under investigation.

Thursday's three new cases comes the day after the province reported a new single-day high of 17 new cases, surpassing the 15 new cases reported on March 28.

All 17 cases reported on Wednesday were at the Manoir Notre-Dame, a special-care home in Moncton, which has 112 residents and 56 employees.

Three residents of Manoir Notre-Dame are currently in hospital, with one in the intensive care unit.

There were two more cases reported on Tuesday and Wednesday's cases bring the total connected to the facility to 19. That includes 13 residents and four workers at Notre-Dame Manor and two family members who were in close contact.

"We have launched a co-ordinated response to care for those who have become infected and protect those that the virus has not yet touched," said Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province's chief medical officer of health.

The cases at that care home involve 13 residents, four health-care workers and two family members of an infected resident, she said. Most of the residents at the care home are in individual rooms and the affected people are isolating, she said.

Russell said it's still too early to determine a source of the outbreak, but said the majority of cases in the province have resulted from people who travelled outside the Atlantic region and brought the virus back without knowing it.

"Ninety individuals beyond the manor residents and staff have been contacted through contact tracing," she told reporters in Fredericton. "This continues and the cause of the outbreak remains under investigation."

"Visiting is now prohibited at adult residential facilities in the Moncton region until further notice."

Russell said residents will be tested regularly, even those who have tested negative. She said the outbreak in Moncton demonstrates the second wave of COVID-19 is upon the province.

Premier Blaine Higgs told reporters the new measures were the result of a meeting earlier in the day of the all-party COVID cabinet committee.

He said the agreement that allowed non-essential day trips into the province from residents of Quebec's Listuguj First Nation and of Pointe-a-la-Croix is suspended.

Residents of those two border areas can continue to cross into the province for essential reasons, Higgs said, adding that students in kindergarten to Grade 8 will still be permitted into New Brunswick for school.

"We are protecting not only New Brunswick, but also have scrutiny on all travel moving through our province," Higgs said.

COVID-19 CASES IN NEW BRUNSWICK

New Brunswick has had 225 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 199 are recovered and two people have died.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases are broken down by New Brunswick’s seven health zones:

The province recently announced that residents can take an online self-assessment if they are experiencing mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.

To date, a total of 82,365 tests have been conducted in the province.

POSSIBLE EXPOSURE AT TWO PUBLIC LOCATIONS

New Brunswick public health was also warning the public about the potential for exposure to people who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Optical centre, Costco Moncton:

St-Hubert restaurant, Moncton:

Earlier Thursday, authorities confirmed that an employee of a Moncton restaurant had tested positive for COVID-19 and is self-isolating.

Josee Vaillancourt, director of communications for Groupe St-Hubert Inc., confirmed the employee was symptom-free when she worked on Oct. 3 and 4 and was tested because a family member had been in contact with a confirmed case.

Russell said anyone who has visited the restaurant or the Optical Centre at the Moncton Costco since Oct. 1 should self-monitor for symptoms. Prince Edward Island health officials are also advising residents who visited the two businesses to monitor themselves for symptoms.

POTENTIAL FLIGHT EXPOSURES

Russell issued an advisory Thursday for anyone who travelled on Air Canada flight 418 from Toronto to Montreal and Air Canada Flight 8792 from Montreal to Saint John, on Oct. 4. Those passengers should self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19, she said.

The latest cases bring the number of confirmed infections in New Brunswick to 225 since the pandemic started. There are 24 active cases, and there have been two deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

On Tuesday, New Brunswick public health advised of the following potential exposure on a pair of flights from Mexico City to Moncton.

Individuals who travelled on these flights should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days after the flight. Should symptoms develop, they are directed to self-isolate and to call 811.

VEHICLE TRAFFIC INFORMATION

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

On Thursday, 8,493 personal and 3,509 commercial vehicles attempted to cross the border into the province.

Of the vehicles attempting to cross the border, 24 were refused entry, for a refusal rate of 0.2 per cent.

With files from The Canadian Press.