N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 5 deaths including someone in their 20s, students resume in-person classes
CBC
New Brunswick recorded five more COVID-related deaths Monday, including a person in their 20s, as all New Brunswick public school students returned to in-person learning for the first time since before the holiday break.
The return to classes coincides with the province's return Friday at 11:59 p.m. to the less restrictive Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan.
"School is the best place for kids physically and mentally," Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said during a recent COVID briefing.
"There are risks in the return to school, but I'm confident those risks are manageable," she said.
Among some of the measures in place:
Most students have been learning online at home since Jan. 11, which was initially expected to continue until Jan. 21.
When the province moved to Level 3, the most restrictive level, of the winter plan, amid soaring COVID cases and hospitalizations, students' return to schools was pushed back until Monday.
Some students with special needs attended school in-person in recent weeks, however, due to their need for extra supports.
As of Dec. 22, the latest provincial figures available from the Department of Education, 897 cases of COVID had been confirmed in 193 schools since Sept. 7.
Although Public Health used to notify schools of positive cases, conduct contact tracing and notify close contacts, while schools or school districts used to notify families of positive cases, each school district now has its own COVID dashboard, where they list schools that have at least one reported COVID case daily. It's up to families to check the lists.
The five COVID-related deaths recorded Monday include a person in their 80s in the Moncton region, Zone 1, a person in their 20s in the Saint John region, Zone 2, a person in their 80s in the Fredericton region, Zone 3, a person in their 70s in the Edmundston region, Zone 4, and a person in their 70s in the Bathurst region, Zone 6, according to the COVID dashboard.
Their deaths raise the pandemic death toll to 238.
The number of people hospitalized decreased by 12 to 152 — 68 of them for COVID and the other 84 with COVID, meaning they were already admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus.
Last Thursday, Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said officials expected hospitalizations to peak at about 150 in mid-February.
Kayla DeMong fought tears as she described the dire conditions on the front lines, pleading for more help from the province as staff at the harm reduction site she leads try to keep up with the recent spike in overdoses.
A B.C. woman who has been detained by U.S. immigration officials for 11 days, after trying to enter the country, will be released on Friday, according to her father.
Toronto is doubling the number of automated speed cameras on city streets.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange is alleging the former CEO of Alberta Health Services was unwilling and unable to implement the government's plan to break up the health authority, became "infatuated" with her internal investigation into private surgical contracts and made "incendiary and inaccurate allegations about political intrigue and impropriety" before she was fired in January.
Hudson's Bay Company filed for creditor protection last week, saying it's struggling to pay landlords, vendors and employees — and it's a process that could lead to the sale or closure of Canada's oldest company.
Still sleepy from this week's time change?
RCMP say a man died while in police custody on Wednesday in downtown Yellowknife, and Alberta RCMP are investigating the incident.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and federal officials left an hours-long meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying they feel more positive about the Canada-U.S. trading relationship after weeks of bad blood and heated rhetoric.
The Alberta government wants to cut more than $400 million in the fees it pays to doctors, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Canadian Press.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Canada's incoming prime minister needs to immediately and urgently negotiate a way to avoid China's planned tariffs on Canadian canola — even before an election call.
A judge has sentenced a 48-year-old man to life in prison for brutally stabbing his ex-wife and daughter to death in North York in 2022.
Ontario is seeing a massive surge in measles cases as an ongoing outbreak spreads in the province among mostly unvaccinated people.
Prince Edward Island's Affordable Housing Development Program fell short of its intended purpose, the province's Auditor General says.