Public Health reported 32 new cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick on Thursday, with 19 of those cases being in the Zone 4 Health Zone (Edmundston region) alone. At a press conference in Fredericton, Premier Blaine Higgs said he wouldn't hesitate to lock down Zone 4 if positive case numbers didn't decrease. He did, however, note that Zones 1 (Moncton region), Zone 2 (Saint John region) and Zone 3 (Fredericton region) have shown significant improvement despite rolling back to the Red Level of COVID-19 Recovery just days earlier.

“We are at a turning point and the direction we head is dependent on people following the rules laid out by Public Health,” said Premier Higgs. “We are seeing signs of improvement in three of the four zones currently in the Red level. I am hopeful all regions will see improvements in the coming days and weeks.”

After declaring an outbreak at a poultry plant in Zone 4 earlier in the week, Public Health has now also declared an outbreak at Le Pavillon Le Royer, a special care home in Edmundston, also in Zone 4, after a confirmed case of COVID-19 on January 20th. Public Health Members of the Provincial Rapid Outbreak Management Team are on site providing support for residents and for the facility’s care and management team and an investigation is underway as well as extensive contact tracing.

“This pandemic has taught us that our circumstances can change with frightening speed,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health. “We must be prepared to head this off before our situation becomes critical.”