At a press conference in Fredericton on Tuesday, December 22, Public Health made the recommendation to move Zone 4, the Edmundston region, back to the Yellow level of recovery under the province’s revised COVID-19 recovery plan. Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said the decision to move Zone 4 back from the Orange level of recovery was made because the emergence of new cases had drastically slowed. Also, there have been no new cases among health-care workers.

“I thank everyone in Zone 4 for taking the rules seriously and doing their part to ensure the entire province is in the Yellow level just in time for the holidays,” said Minister Shephard. “If we all continue to follow the guidance of Public Health and the rules in the mandatory order, I am confident that we can keep New Brunswick in the Yellow level as we enter 2021.”

“There is recognition that the holiday period is of great importance to many people, and that balancing the social determinants of health is an important consideration if we can ensure risks of transmission are low and within an acceptable range,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health. “It remains very important to keep your number of close contacts low, especially during the holiday period.”

Dr. Russell also said that Public Health has also decided to press pause on sports tournaments at least until mid-January.  Regular play such as a one-on-one hockey game is allowed, but no tournaments, bonspiels or major events should be taking place at this time in order to avoid large gatherings, particularly over the holiday season.

“We apologize for the inconvenience to people who may be organizing such an event, but we need to keep everyone safe,” said Russell. “The risk is just too high.”