N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Province to provide update this afternoon as hospitalizations rise
CBC
The government will provide an update on COVID-19 this afternoon, as the Omicron variant continues to tear across the province.
New Brunswick recorded another COVID-related death Wednesday and set a record high for COVID-19 hospitalizations, at 94. That includes 10 people in intensive care. Four of them are on ventilators.
Among the criteria for the province to consider moving from the current Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan to the more restrictive Level 3 is 100 active COVID-19 hospitalizations provincially or 50 COVID patients in intensive care.
Hospitalizations are projected to reach nearly 220 by the end of the month and new cases to peak at 5,500 a day, if current trends hold and no changes are made.
On Tuesday, Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said the province is monitoring the situation "hour by hour," but hopes to avoid moving to the stricter restrictions because of their negative impact.
Under Level 3, social gatherings would be limited to single household bubbles; no public gatherings would be permitted; restaurants would be takeout only; non-essential retail would be reduced to contactless pickup or delivery only; gyms, salons and entertainment centres would be closed, and faith services would only be allowed outdoors or virtually.
Instead, the province has urged everyone to limit their contacts as much as possible over the next couple of weeks.
Premier Blaine Higgs and Russell will participate in the 2:30 p.m. briefing.
It will be livestreamed here on CBC New Brunswick's website and in French on the government's YouTube channel.
Public Health reported 369 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test-confirmed new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, putting the active caseload at 7,058, but that doesn't include the people testing positive on rapid tests.
An additional 688 people aged two to 49 with symptoms tested positive on rapid tests and registered their results online.
"These totals are based on information received by the Department of Health from the public and are not intended to be taken as a true representation of the total number of cases in the province," Public Health said in a news release.
A total of 644,182 PCR tests have been conducted to date.
As of Wednesday, 27.5 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received a booster dose, up from 26.5 per cent, 83.2 per cent have received two doses, unchanged for a second straight day, and 90.9 per cent have received one dose, up from 90.8 per cent.
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