N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 257 cases declared, province urges caution as Christmas nears

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.