Four new cases of COVID-19 reported in New Brunswick’s northern Campbellton area

FREDERICTON — New Brunswick is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 — all in the Campbellton area in the north of the province.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell said Wednesday the new cases involve two residents and two staff members at the Manoir de la Vallee, a long-term care facility in Atholville. At least one is outside the memory-care wing where an initial outbreak was reported.

She said there are now 29 active cases in the province. Five people are in hospital with the disease, including one in intensive care.

The province has had a total of 151 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including one death, with 121 cases considered recovered.

Russell says the travel-related case reported in the Moncton area on Tuesday is a temporary foreign worker who was already self-isolating for 14 days after arriving in the province.

She said it shows that procedures being used in the province are working.

“The risk can never be zero, because this is a global pandemic, and we know there will be cases in other countries and other provinces for quite a while,” Russell said.

She said the person has had minimal contact with others since arriving in New Brunswick and is continuing to self-isolate.

All areas of New Brunswick except in the Campbellton region are at the yellow level of the province’s COVID-19 recovery plan, which is aimed at the gradual reopening of businesses and activities while working to prevent a resurgence of transmission. Tighter restrictions remain in the health zone around Campbellton.

There have been suggestions of an Atlantic “bubble” that would allow people to travel freely between the Atlantic provinces.

Premier Blaine Higgs said the issue is still under discussion and would be among topics when the four Atlantic premiers meet Wednesday evening.

“It is still very much on the radar to look at this in early summer. We haven’t set a date collectively,” Higgs said. He said he expected a decision in the coming weeks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2020.

Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press