N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Public Health to hold live update this afternoon

Premier Blaine Higgs, Health Minister Dorothy Shephard and Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, will address a COVID-19 news conference this afternoon, just days ahead of Christmas.

The event, scheduled for 2:30, will be livestreamed here, and on the government's YouTube channel.

On Monday, the province reported 118 new cases of COVID-19 in six regions, with almost half of those cases in the Fredericton region, Zone 3.

As of Monday, there were 107 recoveries and 42 people in hospital, 17 of them in intensive care, Public Health said in a news release Monday afternoon.

Of those in hospital, 26 are over the age of 60 and 10 people are on a ventilator. There is no one under 19 in hospital  with COVID-19.

Six of the 42 people hospitalized were initially admitted for other reasons and contracted COVID-19 because of outbreaks at hospitals in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton and Miramichi.

Most of these people are exhibiting mild to moderate symptoms, Public Health said Monday.

The department also confirmed that, as of Monday, there were 31 cases of the Omicron variant in the province.

They did not release information about the severity of those cases, the zones in which they've been detected, or the age of the patients. 

However, in an interview on CBC's The National on Monday, federal Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said all of the Omicron cases in Canada have so far been mild or asymptomatic. 

The province shared the following new exposure sites on Monday.

Moncton region, Zone 1

Saint John region, Zone 2

Fredericton region, Zone 3