Two parts of New Brunswick have been forced back into the more restrictive orange phase of COVID-19 recovery after 13 new cases were confirmed on Friday.
The change for the Moncton health region (Zone 1) and Campbellton health region (Zone 5) will take effect at midnight, Premier Blaine Higgs announced during a news conference in Fredericton.
Residents in those zones will need to stay within two-household bubbles, said Higgs. Unlike the previous version of the orange phase, bubbles can now include caregivers and immediate family members, he said.
The return to the orange phase is based on the recommendation of Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health.
The recommendation around the Moncton region is due to additional exposures that Public Health identified through investigations, she said.
There is an outbreak in Moncton at the Manoir Notre-Dame special care home, affecting at least 19 people.
The recommendation around the Campbellton region is due to a community outbreak that involves several exposure settings, cases of potential community transmission being investigated, and reports of low compliance with directives, Russell said.
Sugarloaf Senior High School in Campbellton has confirmed a positive case — the first reported school-related case of COVID-19 since New Brunswick schools reopened in September.
The new cases include: 12 in the Campbellton health region and one in the Moncton health region.
Of the 37 cases in the province, 21 are in the Moncton region, two are in the Saint John region (Zone 2), one is in the Fredericton region (Zone 3), and 13 are in the Campbellton region.
Three people are in hospital, none 0 in ICU
More to come
