N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 77 cases as province prepares for changes to restrictions
CBC
New Brunswick is reporting 77 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday as the province prepares to move into the winter action plan announced on Friday in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus.
The measures under Level 1 of the new plan include masking outdoors when physical distancing cannot be maintained and physical distancing in indoor public spaces that do not require proof of vaccination.
Indoor gatherings may not exceed 20 people.
Retail stores, including malls, salons and spas must either enforce physical distancing, or, if they opt against that, they can ask for proof of vaccination instead.
The new measures will come into place at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Further restrictions could also come into effect if cases and hospitalizations continue to rise.
There have been 66 recoveries since the last update by Public Health, bringing the the province's active case count to 722.
Fifty-nine people are hospital with the virus, including 27 over the age of 60 and one under 19. Of those hospitalized, 16 are in intensive care, and 10 of them are on a ventilator.
"Eighteen of the 51 people hospitalized were initially admitted (for hospitalization) for other reasons and contracted COVID-19 due to outbreaks at hospitals in Moncton, Saint John and Miramichi," Public Health wrote in a release Saturday.
"Most of those people infected are currently exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19."
As of Friday, fifty-five New Brunswick travellers returning from one of the 10 countries affected by restrictions due to the omicron variant are in isolation to reduce possible spread of the virus.
The province didn't update that number on Saturday, or say which countries the travellers were returning from.
The new cases were reported across all seven regions of the province.
The breakdown of the new cases includes:
Moncton region, Zone 1 — 12 cases:
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