Dr. Jennifer Russell, the chief medical officer of health, directly addressed the youth of New Brunswick at Tuesday’s news conference, urging them to do what they can do to reverse the trend of COVID-19.
“New Brunswickers under the age of 30 are contracting COVID-19 in growing numbers and passing it to others,” Russell said. “Children, teens and young adults are not immune to this disease,” and can pass it on to others who are more vulnerable.
Russell urged them to wear a mask in public, maintain physical distancing. “You can help return all zones to the yellow phase,” she said.
Russell also announced five new cases on Tuesday, although Public Health originally reported six.
Three of the new cases are in the Saint John region (Zone 2), and include:
two people 19 and under; and
one individual 30 to 39.
Two cases are in the Moncton region (Zone 1), both cases are individuals age 20 to 29.
There are now 93 active cases in the province, with no one in hospital with the disease.
“There will be more cases,” Russell warned. “A record number of people across the province self-isolating … and the risk that our hospitals will be overwhelmed is high.”
Education Minister Dominic Cardy said classes at four schools in the Saint John and Moncton region will go online for two weeks next week. (File photo submitted by New Brunswick government)
Education Minister Dominic Cardy also spoke at the briefing.
Cardy said there are now seven schools in the Saint John and Fredericton regions that have been impacted and he understands parents are concerned, “but we have reason to be optimistic.”
He said the province has learned from the earlier outbreak in the Campbellton region.
“In the summer I was clear,” he said. “I said there would be more cases, and more deaths. This is not a surprise.”
He said officials took the summer to develop a plan, and thanks to the work of contact tracers across the province, and residents, New Brunswick was able to push COVID-19 back.
But Cardy noted a handful of classes in Zone 2 and 3 will be learning from home “in the coming week or two,” including Hampton Middle School and Lakefield Elementary School in Zone 2, and Centreville school and Montgomery school in Zone 3.
There will be remote IT services to assist parents if there are technical issues, said Cardy, who provided this number: 1-833-453-1140.
Lakefield Elementary School in Quispamsis has confirmed its first case of COVID-19. (Candace Patterson)
Quispamsis school reports case of COVID-19
An elementary school in the Quispamsis area is the latest New Brunswick school to report a case of COVID-19.
An email was sent out to parents at Lakefield Elementary School on Monday.
The email to Lakefield parents says the kindergarten to Grade 5 school is working with Public Health to identify students and school personnel who might have come into contact with the coronavirus.
“Public health officials will contact you if your child has been in close contact with the confirmed case and will tell you if your child needs to self-isolate,” the email said.
“If you are not contacted by Public Health officials, your child can continue to attend school.”
LISTEN | Education Minister Dominic Cardy talks about how he’s prepared to switch system to online learning at a moment’s notice
Information Morning – Fredericton14:42Covid-19 exposures in schools
Education Minister Dominic Cardy joined us to talk about going to school in the orange phase, and the COVID-19 cases and exposures in our schools. 14:42
The email went on to say that further details will not be released, in order to protect the confidentiality of students and employees.
Education Minister Dominic Cardy said Monday that schools will move to online learning right away if there are any risks to students or if the number of cases increases.
How much is too much information in a pandemic?
There’s a fine balance between saying too much and not enough during a public health crisis, an associate professor of public policy at the University of British Columbia says.
“Feeling the information is consistent and trustworthy will really help with compliance, so it’s completely crucial,” said Heidi Tworek, who is also the co-author of Democratic Health Communications during COVID-19: A Rapid Response, which has been featured in the New York Times, Financial Times, CNN and elsewhere.
Tworek spoke to Information Morning Fredericton on Tuesday.
When a crisis emerges, she said people tend to have a lot of anxiety and want as much information as possible.
“At the same time, we have to recognize there is a limit to information authorities may be able reveal,” she said.
New Brunswick Public Health has been cautious about how much information it makes available to the public, withholding all details except the health zones where cases have turned up, the ages of the people who tested positive, and whether their cases are travel-related or under investigation.
Although some of her counterparts have used data to show how the disease has spread through a particular area, Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, has said she will share only what she’s decided the public needs to hear.
Heidi Tworek, an assistant professor in international history and public policy at University of British Columbia, says governments and public health agencies have to be more effective at communicating to the public because disinformation will spread faster than facts. (Glen Kugelstadt/CBC)
There are seven zones in New Brunswick.
However, Zone 3, the Fredericton and River Valley area and the largest zone in the province, contains more than 20 communities.
Tworek said that if New Brunswick Public Health got too specific about where cases are, people in other areas might let their guards down, causing the virus to spread.
“We need to figure out the balance how specific to get … while at the same time trying not to reveal so much, for example, we’re stigmatizing certain people,” she said, citing what happened during the early years of AIDS and HIV which caused some stigmatization around gay people.
Russell has also avoided answering questions on other issues related to COVID-19 during the COVID news conferences that have happened on and off since the outbreak started in March.
But there isn’t a magic formula, Tworek said.
She said countries around the world have taken different approaches to releasing public health information, partly because they have different laws about privacy, she said.
Some countries are also more transparent. When the respiratory virus first broke out, authorities in Taiwan made a point of being transparent with the public, telling the public it didn’t have enough masks to go around and those that were available were needed for health-care workers.
Vehicles lined up to get back into New Brunswick from Prince Edward Island when the Atlantic bubble was still intact this past summer. (Elizabeth Fraser/CBC News)
However, countries like Canada have different degrees of disclosure depending on where a person lives. And some members of the public might have more trust in public health authorities than others.
She said the most important objective is for public health officials to build trust with the people they’re communicating with. And they can do this by explaining how and why they’re making certain decisions.
“It’s a very tricky balance.”
Saint John mayor asks public to stay calm
Saint John Mayor Don Darling says he’s never been happier to have the flu.
Darling received a negative COVID test result Monday. But it’s been a roller-coaster experience.
“I am following the rules.,” he told Information Morning Saint John on Tuesday. “I’m masked and I’ve never washed my hands more in my life.
“There’s a fear, there’s a shame. I didn’t know if folks were going to show up with tiki torches outside my home.”
He has been self-isolating since Friday after experiencing several COVID symptoms, including aches, trouble breathing, a cough and fever.
I have a confession to make, last fall I didn’t know what the novel coronavirus covid 19 was. Sitting here at 4:50 am typing this update I have a much different understanding. <a href=”https://t.co/y4WD0OLjqV”>https://t.co/y4WD0OLjqV</a>
The Saint John region was recently sent back to the orange phase because of the recent spike in cases.
There are currently 43 active COVID cases in the Saint John region
Darling is reminding residents to stay patient and calm.
“We’ve seen it in our community, folks speculating and hunting down those that have COVID,” he said. “Those that have COVID are human beings.”
The hospitality industry has been “barely hanging on,” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the vice- president of Restaurants Canada in Atlantic Canada says.
Bars, restaurants should be shut down, Saint John bartender says
A Saint John bartender says the government should temporarily shut down bars and restaurants in order to control the local COVID-19 outbreak.
Liv Wagg, 26, has been off work and self-isolating since last Thursday, after a possible COVID exposure notice at her workplace.
It’s been a stressful week, said Wagg, and every bartender she knows is on edge.
Wagg said she normally enjoys going to work and she thinks it’s nice for people to be able to socialize in bars, but she doesn’t agree bars should be open right now.
“I don’t think they should be,” she said. “I think we should be seeing a little bit more leadership from the government.”
Wagg said bar owners are taking precautions and following the rules, but a closure order would be a more clearcut way to reduce the spread.
Bar and restaurant staff have felt “weird” about working since the mandatory mask order came into effect, she said.
That’s partly because it’s hard to get patrons to follow the rules, said Wagg.
Customers often absent-mindedly pull down their masks to talk to her. And she has to remind them to put them back on.
“People forget and they’re like, ‘Oh, I can’t talk with this thing in my mouth.'”
Premier Blaine Higgs announced Monday that New Brunswick will not be making changes to the Atlantic bubble, despite Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador temporarily pulling out. 1:45
It happens so often, she said, it’s “almost comical,” except for the threat it currently presents to public health.
It puts bartenders in a difficult position, said Wagg, to expect them to catch and confront people who put fake names down for contract tracing or come in with people who are not members of their bubble, as the premier said during Monday’s news conference.
“I feel like it’s going to be really, really difficult to execute,” said Wagg.
When the bar is busy, she said, there isn’t time to double check names.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, says there hasn’t been evidence of community spread in the province, but there are still 13 active COVID-19 cases under investigation. 1:22
And often young bar patrons will have IDs that show their parents’ address, not their student accommodations.
Wagg would also like to see the government make COVID testing more available to bar and restaurant staff. Nova Scotia has just done that. And it’s been recommended by epidemiologist Colin Furness based on what’s been learned from the way the disease has spread in Ontario. Chief medical officer Dr. Jennifer Russell said Monday that she’d consider it.
“I think that’s a really good idea,” Wagg said. “Anyone working in customer service really should be able to have more access to testing right now.”
Wagg said she hasn’t even tried to get a COVID test because she’s heard from other bar staff that she won’t get one because she doesn’t have symptoms.
New Brunswick isn’t following suit, although Premier Blaine Higgs is asking people to be cautious about travel outside the province.
New Brunswick Public Health reported 15 new cases on Monday, and one death, a person in their 80s in the Saint John region.
Eleven of the new cases are in the Saint John region (Zone 2), three are in the Moncton region (Zone 1) and one in the Fredericton region (Zone 3), Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health, said at Monday’s news conference.
All 15 of the new cases have been “identified and are isolating,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health at a news briefing Monday.
As of Monday, the province had a total of 89 active cases.
Seven people in New Brunswick have died of the disease since the pandemic started.
Moncton and Saint John have both been pushed back to the orange phase of recovery, while the rest of the province has stayed at the less restrictive yellow phase.
Potential public exposure warnings for Saint John, Moncton
New Brunswick Public Health has released the following possible exposure to COVID-19 warnings for locations in Moncton and Saint John, including gyms, stores, bars, restaurants and on flights.
Anyone who visited the following businesses during the identified times should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days.
Anyone who develops any COVID-19 symptoms should self-isolate and take the self-assessment online to schedule a test.
Saint John area
Rothesay Route 1 Big Stop Restaurant onNov. 14 between 12:45 p.m. and 2 p.m. (2870 Route 1, Rothesay).
Pub Down Under on Nov. 14, between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. (400 Main St., Saint John)
Fish & Brew on Nov. 14 between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (800 Fairville Blvd., Saint John)
Cora Breakfast and Lunch on Nov. 16 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. (39 King St., Saint John).
Goodlife Fitness McAllister Place on Nov. 16 between noon and 1 p.m. and on Nov. 18 between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (519 Westmorland Rd., Saint John).
NBCC Grandview campus on Nov. 16, 17, and 18 between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (950 Grandview Ave., Saint John).
Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio on Nov. 19 between 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. (47 Clark Rd., Rothesay)
Let’s Hummus at 44 Water St. between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
Eighty-Three Bar Arcade at 43 Princess St. on Nov. 14 between midnight and 2 a.m.
Callie’s Pub at 2 Princess St. on Nov. 14 between midnight and 2 a.m.
O’Leary’s Pub at 46 Princess St. on Nov. 14 between midnight and 2 a.m.
Five and Dime Bar at 34 Grannan St. on Nov. 14, between 12:30 to 2:30 a.m
Freddie’s Pizza at 27 Charlotte St. on Nov. 14, between 2:30 to 3 a.m.
Big Tide Brewing Company at 47 Princess St. on Nov. 16, between 12:30 to 2 p.m.
Java Moose at 84 Prince William St. Nov. 16, between 2 to 2:30 p.m.
Rocky’s Sports Bar at 7 Market Square on Nov. 13, between 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Potential public exposure was also reported on Nov. 14 between 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.
Moncton
RD Maclean Co. Ltd. on Nov. 16, 17 and 18 at 200 St. George St., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
GoodLife Fitness on Nov. 21 at 555 Dieppe Blvd, Dieppe, between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Fit 4 Less at 165 Main St. on Nov. 6-12, at various times between 5 p.m. and midnight. Full list on Public Health website.
GoodLife Fitness at Moncton Junction Village Gym on Nov. 6, between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Potential public exposure was also reported on Nov. 9, between 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Aldo Shoes at Moncton Champlain Mall on Nov. 6-10 at various times between 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
CEPS Louis-J. Robichaud fitness room at 40 Antonine-Maillet Ave. on Nov. 6, 9, 10 and 12 at various times in the evening from 5:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Tandoori Zaika Cuisine and Bar at 196 Robinson St. on Nov. 8, between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.
Keg Steakhouse and Bar at 576 Main St. on Nov. 17, between 7:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Flights into Moncton:
Air Canada Flight 8954 on Nov. 15 from Winnipeg to Toronto, arrived at 8:16 p.m.
Air Canada Flight 8918 on Nov. 15 from Toronto to Moncton, arrived at 11:43 p.m.
Air Canada Flight 0992 on Nov. 7 from Mexico City to Toronto, arrived at 7:20 p.m.
Air Canada Flight 8918 on Nov. 7 from Toronto to Moncton, arrived at 11:43 p.m.
TORONTO – Health Canada has authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The mRNA vaccine, called Spikevax, has been reformulated to target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine that was released a year ago, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Health Canada is also reviewing two other updated COVID-19 vaccines but has not yet authorized them.
They are Pfizer’s Comirnaty, which is also an mRNA vaccine, as well as Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
TORONTO – Sanniah Jabeen holds a sonogram of the unborn baby she lost after contracting listeria last December. Beneath, it says “love at first sight.”
Jabeen says she believes she and her baby were poisoned by a listeria outbreak linked to some plant-based milks and wants answers. An investigation continues into the recall declared July 8 of several Silk and Great Value plant-based beverages.
“I don’t even have the words. I’m still processing that,” Jabeen says of her loss. She was 18 weeks pregnant when she went into preterm labour.
The first infection linked to the recall was traced back to August 2023. One year later on Aug. 12, 2024, the Public Health Agency of Canada said three people had died and 20 were infected.
The number of cases is likely much higher, says Lawrence Goodridge, Canada Research Chair in foodborne pathogen dynamics at the University of Guelph: “For every person known, generally speaking, there’s typically 20 to 25 or maybe 30 people that are unknown.”
The case count has remained unchanged over the last month, but the Public Health Agency of Canada says it won’t declare the outbreak over until early October because of listeria’s 70-day incubation period and the reporting delays that accompany it.
Danone Canada’s head of communications said in an email Wednesday that the company is still investigating the “root cause” of the outbreak, which has been linked to a production line at a Pickering, Ont., packaging facility.
Pregnant people, adults over 60, and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk of becoming sick with severe listeriosis. If the infection spreads to an unborn baby, Health Canada says it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth or life-threatening illness in a newborn.
The Canadian Press spoke to 10 people, from the parents of a toddler to an 89-year-old senior, who say they became sick with listeria after drinking from cartons of plant-based milk stamped with the recalled product code. Here’s a look at some of their experiences.
Sanniah Jabeen, 32, Toronto
Jabeen says she regularly drank Silk oat and almond milk in smoothies while pregnant, and began vomiting seven times a day and shivering at night in December 2023. She had “the worst headache of (her) life” when she went to the emergency room on Dec. 15.
“I just wasn’t functioning like a normal human being,” Jabeen says.
Told she was dehydrated, Jabeen was given fluids and a blood test and sent home. Four days later, she returned to hospital.
“They told me that since you’re 18 weeks, there’s nothing you can do to save your baby,” says Jabeen, who moved to Toronto from Pakistan five years ago.
Jabeen later learned she had listeriosis and an autopsy revealed her baby was infected, too.
“It broke my heart to read that report because I was just imagining my baby drinking poisoned amniotic fluid inside of me. The womb is a place where your baby is supposed to be the safest,” Jabeen said.
Jabeen’s case is likely not included in PHAC’s count. Jabeen says she was called by Health Canada and asked what dairy and fresh produce she ate – foods more commonly associated with listeria – but not asked about plant-based beverages.
She’s pregnant again, and is due in several months. At first, she was scared to eat, not knowing what caused the infection during her last pregnancy.
“Ever since I learned about the almond, oat milk situation, I’ve been feeling a bit better knowing that it wasn’t something that I did. It was something else that caused it. It wasn’t my fault,” Jabeen said.
She’s since joined a proposed class action lawsuit launched by LPC Avocates against the manufacturers and sellers of Silk and Great Value plant-based beverages. The lawsuit has not yet been certified by a judge.
Natalie Grant and her seven year-old daughter, Bowmanville, Ont.
Natalie Grant says she was in a hospital waiting room when she saw a television news report about the recall. She wondered if the dark chocolate almond milk her daughter drank daily was contaminated.
She had brought the girl to hospital because she was vomiting every half hour, constantly on the toilet with diarrhea, and had severe pain in her abdomen.
“I’m definitely thinking that this is a pretty solid chance that she’s got listeria at this point because I knew she had all the symptoms,” Grant says of seeing the news report.
Once her daughter could hold fluids, they went home and Grant cross-checked the recalled product code – 7825 – with the one on her carton. They matched.
“I called the emerg and I said I’m pretty confident she’s been exposed,” Grant said. She was told to return to the hospital if her daughter’s symptoms worsened. An hour and a half later, her fever spiked, the vomiting returned, her face flushed and her energy plummeted.
Grant says they were sent to a hospital in Ajax, Ont. and stayed two weeks while her daughter received antibiotics four times a day until she was discharged July 23.
“Knowing that my little one was just so affected and how it affected us as a family alone, there’s a bitterness left behind,” Grant said. She’s also joined the proposed class action.
Thelma Feldman, 89, Toronto
Thelma Feldman says she regularly taught yoga to friends in her condo building before getting sickened by listeria on July 2. Now, she has a walker and her body aches. She has headaches and digestive problems.
“I’m kind of depressed,” she says.
“It’s caused me a lot of physical and emotional pain.”
Much of the early days of her illness are a blur. She knows she boarded an ambulance with profuse diarrhea on July 2 and spent five days at North York General Hospital. Afterwards, she remembers Health Canada officials entering her apartment and removing Silk almond milk from her fridge, and volunteers from a community organization giving her sponge baths.
“At my age, 89, I’m not a kid anymore and healing takes longer,” Feldman says.
“I don’t even feel like being with people. I just sit at home.”
Jasmine Jiles and three-year-old Max, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Que.
Jasmine Jiles says her three-year-old son Max came down with flu-like symptoms and cradled his ears in what she interpreted as a sign of pain, like the one pounding in her own head, around early July.
When Jiles heard about the recall soon after, she called Danone Canada, the plant-based milk manufacturer, to find out if their Silk coconut milk was in the contaminated batch. It was, she says.
“My son is very small, he’s very young, so I asked what we do in terms of overall monitoring and she said someone from the company would get in touch within 24 to 48 hours,” Jiles says from a First Nations reserve near Montreal.
“I never got a call back. I never got an email”
At home, her son’s fever broke after three days, but gas pains stuck with him, she says. It took a couple weeks for him to get back to normal.
“In hindsight, I should have taken him (to the hospital) but we just tried to see if we could nurse him at home because wait times are pretty extreme,” Jiles says, “and I don’t have child care at the moment.”
Joseph Desmond, 50, Sydney, N.S.
Joseph Desmond says he suffered a seizure and fell off his sofa on July 9. He went to the emergency room, where they ran an electroencephalogram (EEG) test, and then returned home. Within hours, he had a second seizure and went back to hospital.
His third seizure happened the next morning while walking to the nurse’s station.
In severe cases of listeriosis, bacteria can spread to the central nervous system and cause seizures, according to Health Canada.
“The last two months have really been a nightmare,” says Desmond, who has joined the proposed lawsuit.
When he returned home from the hospital, his daughter took a carton of Silk dark chocolate almond milk out of the fridge and asked if he had heard about the recall. By that point, Desmond says he was on his second two-litre carton after finishing the first in June.
“It was pretty scary. Terrifying. I honestly thought I was going to die.”
Cheryl McCombe, 63, Haliburton, Ont.
The morning after suffering a second episode of vomiting, feverish sweats and diarrhea in the middle of the night in early July, Cheryl McCombe scrolled through the news on her phone and came across the recall.
A few years earlier, McCombe says she started drinking plant-based milks because it seemed like a healthier choice to splash in her morning coffee. On June 30, she bought two cartons of Silk cashew almond milk.
“It was on the (recall) list. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I got listeria,’” McCombe says. She called her doctor’s office and visited an urgent care clinic hoping to get tested and confirm her suspicion, but she says, “I was basically shut down at the door.”
Public Health Ontario does not recommend listeria testing for infected individuals with mild symptoms unless they are at risk of developing severe illness, such as people who are immunocompromised, elderly, pregnant or newborn.
“No wonder they couldn’t connect the dots,” she adds, referencing that it took close to a year for public health officials to find the source of the outbreak.
“I am a woman in my 60s and sometimes these signs are of, you know, when you’re vomiting and things like that, it can be a sign in women of a bigger issue,” McCombe says. She was seeking confirmation that wasn’t the case.
Disappointed, with her stomach still feeling off, she says she decided to boost her gut health with probiotics. After a couple weeks she started to feel like herself.
But since then, McCombe says, “I’m back on Kawartha Dairy cream in my coffee.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
