Zone 4 of New Brunswick rolls back to the Red level of COVID-19 recovery

New Brunswick saw the largest daily increase in cases and largest number of active cases since the pandemic began on Sunday, January 17, 2021. Premier Blaine Higgs, Chief Medical Officer of New Brunswick Dr. Jennifer Russell and Minister of Education Dominic Cardy called a special press on Sunday in Fredericton to announce their decision to roll Zone 4, the Edmundston health region, back to the Red level of recovery under the province's COVID-19 recovery plan. Zone 4 has 24 of the 36 new cases of COVID-19, 11 of which are workers at a poultry plant in the region. Zone 4 will move back to Red level at midnight tonight, although schools in that region will remain open.

“We are responding to limit the severity of this outbreak, but to bring this under control we need every New Brunswicker to contribute,” said Dr. Russell. “If you have to go out to obtain food and other essentials, keep your outings brief and return home as soon as you can.”

Premier Higgs said that although the other six Health Zones in the province remain at the Orange level under the province’s COVID-19 recovery plan, Zones 1, 2 and 3 will be monitored particularly closely over the next week to determine whether or not they too should roll back to the Red level of recovery if new cases show no signs of slowing down. “We have seen what has happened in other jurisdictions when the increase in active cases is not dealt with quickly and decisively,” said Premier Higgs. “We don’t want that to happen here, but if we are going to avoid it we must do our part.”

Minister Cardy was at the press conference to address why a change has been made to the recovery plan to allow K-12 schools to stay open even at the Red level, with enhanced health and safety measures. “When students are at school, they are in a supervised environment with strict health and safety protocols in place,” said Minister Cardy. “Their social needs can be met, while maintaining physical distancing, using masks, and being encouraged to maintain proper hygiene. That is why, with the support and recommendations of Public Health, we have made changes to our Return to School plan ensuring schools can stay open during the red phase.”