COVID-19 N.B. roundup: Health minister to reveal details about primary care options
CBC
New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard will hold a news conference today about the expansion of primary care options, the government said in a news release.
The event will be live streamed here.
It's not clear what Shephard will be addressing exactly.
But the news conference comes as the province continues to be battered by COVID-19-related shortages of doctors and nurses.
Fulfilment of Shephard's promise last year of a doctor or nurse practitioner for everyone waiting for one has also seemed more distant as the pandemic has dragged on. She also said her department was taking over recruitment of doctors, but she hasn't updated the public on the success of this step.
During the pandemic, more people have turned to certain online medical services, but Medicare treats the doctors providing those services differently.
The Department of Health and the medical society unveiled New Brunswick's first fee code for virtual visits in March 2020, just prior to the COVID-19 emergency declaration.
At that time, the family doctor rate was $47.50 and the rate for virtual visits was lowered from $45 to $29 — which in turn led to a decline in the number of care providers available for virtual visits.
All three New Brunswick-based teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League have temporarily relocated to Quebec for training for the duration of the level 3 lockdown.
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan are in Carleton-sur-mer, the Saint John Sea Dogs are in Rivière-du-Loup, and the Moncton Wildcats are in Quebec City.
"High-level athletes cannot stop training for an extended period of time and be able to perform at the same level," said Titan general manager Sylvain Couturier, in a press release from the team.
The Sea Dogs general manager, Trevor Georgie, said allowing players to continue training is "vital for their health, morale, and psychological well-being."
"Our players need to be ready to play games once we restart and high-level athletes can't stop training completely over an extended period of time," said Georgie.
On Tuesday, Public Health announced three more deaths, bringing the province's COVID-related death toll to 215.
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