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New Brunswick Chief Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Russell said at a press conference on the afternoon of Thursday, October 28 that although the number of COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick is moving in the right direction , But the situation still has problems.

She said that all or part of the circuit breaker restrictions imposed on the four health districts in New Brunswick appeared to be working, but the figure for District 2 in the St. John's area was worrying.

In response to the recent spread of COVID-19 in St. John's and surrounding communities, Governor Blaine Higgs announced the establishment of circuit breaker restrictions in this area of ​​the province, effective from 6 pm on Friday, October 29. He also announced at least one item-to extend the existing circuit breakers in parts of Zone 1, the Moncton area, the northern part of the Upper River Valley in Zone 3, and in Zones 4 and 5 by one week.

On Thursday, Russell reported two other COVID-related deaths in the province, bringing the total number of deaths in the province during the pandemic to 114. The public health daily update report on October 28 stated that two people in their 80s, one in District 1 and the other in District 3, died.

The daily COVID updates for the past two days indicate that the decline in new infections and active cases has stopped for a few days. Russell reported 69 new infections on Thursday, and the number of active cases climbed to 549.

Russell said that since the circuit breaker measures took effect, the number of new infections has fallen by 50%, and the number of active cases has fallen by a third.

"This is good news," she said. "However, our healthcare system is still under tension."

Russell shared a chart showing the increase in hospitalizations since August. The chart also highlights the expected increase in hospitalizations without circuit breaker measures in place.

When introducing the expansion of the circuit breaker, Higgs touted the numbers showing the effectiveness of the measure, and pointed out that the number of active cases dropped from more than 1,000 to 549, and the number of hospitalizations dropped from 68 to the current 31. He also pointed out that there are currently 16 people in the ICU, which is just over half of the record of 31 a few weeks ago.

Higgs said that even if the numbers improve, the health care system in New Brunswick is still under pressure, with 120 workers losing their jobs due to COVID-related issues.

Higgs and Russell continued to emphasize the importance of vaccination, announcing plans to introduce booster vaccination for some groups of New Brunswick, and a pending plan to provide vaccines to children under 12 years of age.

Higgs said: "I can't stress enough that vaccination and compliance with current measures in your place of residence are critical to your health and our success as a province."

Russell explained that the booster can be used by nursing home residents and long-term caregivers, as well as people with weakened immune functions. She said that starting from November 1, if six months have passed since the second injection, people 65 years of age and older and school staff can make appointments for the booster injection.

Russell said that if 28 days have passed since the last injection, anyone who received one or two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine could get an mRNA vaccine booster.

She acknowledged that vaccine effectiveness will decline over time, which makes boosters a necessity, although most New Brunswick people who are vaccinated are still protected. She said that due to the different strains of the virus, even those who have been infected with COVID-19 should be vaccinated. Russell said that some people have contracted the virus more than once.

Although public health data shows that more people who are vaccinated are infected with the virus, Russell said the data also show that vaccination significantly reduces the impact of the virus on their bodies.

Russell said that in order to further increase the number of New Brunswick residents protected by the vaccine, once Health Canada approves the vaccine for this age group, the Ministry of Public Health will be ready to send 54,000 New Brunswick 5 to 5 Vaccines are provided to children as young as 11 years old.

When asked how the public health department will respond to resistance from parents who are unwilling to vaccinate their children, Russell said that they have developed an outreach plan.

She said that research shows that 50% of parents are ready to vaccinate their children, so their rollout plan will provide factual information and the ability to deal with questions raised by other 50% of worrying parents.

Higgs also talked about the measures taken by the New Brunswick school to reduce the spread of the virus, and pointed out that rapid test kits are provided to children who may be exposed to COVID-19. He said it is up to parents to ensure that students are tested as required.

Higgs said that in order to reduce the potential for stigma, students no longer need to bring negative POC test results to school, but hopes that parents will ensure that they are tested. Students return to school only after two quick test results are negative. He said that if the test result is positive, parents must immediately book a PCR test to confirm the result.

Higgs said the updated mandatory order will result in penalties for the crime of falsifying or distorting test results.

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