N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 257 cases declared, province urges caution as Christmas nears
CBC
New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health continued Thursday to urge people to limit their contacts as more cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 are expected in the province in the coming days.
The number of confirmed cases of the variant rose to 102 on Thursday, up from 82, and it's only a matter of time before the province sees a surge in cases like other provinces have, Dr. Jennifer Russell told Information Morning Fredericton.
"There's a lot of surges worldwide and in Canada," Russell said, pointing to Quebec, where 9,397 new cases were declared on Thursday. "We expect that here, preemptively, knowing that's coming, and we hope that people keep their gatherings small."
New Brunswick declared another record number of COVID-19 cases on Thursday with 257 new cases, bringing the total number of active cases to 1,563.
Two people have died, including one person aged 50 to 59 in the Saint John region and another aged 80 to 89 in the Edmundston region. It brings the death count in the province to 151.
There have been 98 recoveries.
The province surpassed 200 daily cases for the first time on Wednesday, when 237 cases were declared.
New Brunswickers are being asked to stick to a steady bubble of 20, but further restrictions could come if hospitalizations reach up to 70 or 30 people are admitted to the ICU, Russell said.
Asked why the province is waiting until after Christmas, on Dec. 27, to ask households to stick to a smaller, steady bubble of 10, Russell said Public Health wants to strike a balance between keeping hospitalizations down and protecting people's mental health.
"If there is an uptick and we start to see a surge in hospitalizations, we can act very quickly," she said.
Thirty-nine people are currently in hospital, including 16 in intensive care and 12 on a ventilator. None of those admitted to hospital are positive with the Omicron variant, Public Health said in a news release.
Of those in hospital, 25 are over the age of 60. No one under the age of 19 is hospitalized.
"Five of the 39 people hospitalized were initially admitted for other reasons and contracted COVID-19 due to outbreaks at hospitals in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton and Miramichi," Public Health added. "Most of these people are exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms."
A total of 63 cases were declared among those aged 20 to 29, with 41 cases in people 40 to 49. There was also 36 children age nine and under among the cases today, and 32 between 10 and 19.
Cambridge council has voted to request a pedestrian safety review of Cedar Street from the region after two back-to-back collisions last week, one of which killed a three-year-old girl.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation has received a $1-million donation to create an endowment fund that it will use to upgrade common areas at the Charlottetown hospital.
A new study by the Center for European Policy Analysis suggests Russia and China are pulling ahead of NATO nations, including Canada, in the race to develop and field drones capable of operating in harsh Arctic conditions.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't given him any indication that he's willing to walk away from the North American free trade deal that was struck during his first term at the White House.
A Toronto man has been charged for allegedly defrauding 28 investors of $6.6 million they provided to trade in foreign exchange.
Flu season has started early this year, according to an update from local health officials, who report hospitals are seeing more admissions, emergency room visits, and community outbreaks.
U.S. President Donald Trump's point-person on trade laid out a series of conditions Wednesday that Canada must meet in order to extend the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement (CUSMA) when it comes up for a review next year — revealing publicly for the first time what the administration expects Prime Minister Mark Carney to do to keep the pact for the long term.
Mitchell Rose, 32, is now facing a third charge of attempted murder following a series of attacks in an apartment building on Anspach Street in St. John's last week.
Nova Scotia’s population dropped by nearly 1,400 people in the third quarter of 2025, marking the first decline since 2020 and the largest decline in a decade.
Horizon Health says it has a comprehensive surge plan for the holiday season but is asking people to consider other options to avoid crowding emergency rooms.
The four aerial ski lifts at Mont‑Sainte‑Anne are set to resume operations after Quebec’s building authority lifted an order that had shut them down last week over electrical safety concerns.
WARNING: This story contains profanity and details of racist language.
Blizzard conditions in Saskatoon will ease throughout the evening Wednesday, but the bad weather in Regina and southeastern Saskatchewan will last well into the night, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).