Health officials in New Brunswick on Monday reported a spike in new cases of COVID-19 in the Campbellton area in the north of the province.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell said there were nine new cases to report – eight of them residents of a long-term care home in Atholville. The other new case is a close contact of a previously identified confirmed case.
That brings the number of active cases in a cluster that first emerged in late May to 24.
Russell said it was the largest number of single-day new cases in the province in the last two months.
She said with the disease’s incubation period of 14 days, she was not surprised to see new cases emerging now.
Russell said the latest cases range in age from their 60s to their 90s.
The outbreak in the Campbellton area is believed to have begun after a doctor travelled to Quebec and did not self-isolate upon return to New Brunswick.
Premier Blaine Higgs said there is another report of someone who travelled to Quebec and refused to self-isolate on return.
That person is reported to have visited a pool hall in Fredericton this past weekend.
“The business voluntarily took steps to close its doors to sanitize and disinfect. This person has been tested and is awaiting results. The Department of Public Safety is currently investigating the incident,” Higgs said.
“This kind of behaviour is not acceptable and puts us all at risk,” he added.
Higgs said the situation at the long-term care home in Atholville is an example of how COVID-19 cases can take off.
On Friday, the province announced that face masks would become mandatory in public buildings as of Tuesday, that was corrected over the weekend.
Instead, the existing regulation – which dictates that masks are to be worn when physical distancing can’t be maintained – will remain in place.
Higgs said people should carry a mask with them to use when necessary.
The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick is 146 and 121 have recovered, including one related to the current outbreak in Health Zone 5 in the Campbellton region.
Highlights from a live Q&A with The Globe's health columnist André Picard, where he answers questions on masks, protesting in the age of COVID-19, long term care homes, coronavirus antibodies and adapting to a future where COVID-19 remains in our society.
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