Omicron strains health-care system, workers face exhaustion, say unions
Nearly 200 COVID-positive health-care workers in the Horizon Health Network were isolating by Friday, according to the regional health authority.
It’s unclear how many workers at Sackville Memorial Hospital are affected, but that figure included 41 health-care staff in the health region overall.
CHMA reached out to officials from unions representing health-care workers to learn how the rapid spread of COVID-19 is affecting their members and hospital operations.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees represents approximately 140 job classifications in the health-care system.
Examples include pandemic screeners, security guards, clerical staff, patient care attendants, maintenance workers, housekeeping and dietary staff.
Norma Robinson, president of the New Brunswick Council of Hospital Unions, CUPE Local 1252, said efforts are underway to procure personal protective equipment to safeguard workers from the highly contagious Omicron variant.
The self-isolation of infected workers is putting further strain on the health-care system, but there was no indication the issue was particularly severe at the Sackville hospital by Friday, she said.
Patients may encounter delays, and she asked the public for patience. “It might take a little bit longer, but we’re there to serve, and we’re trying to keep everybody healthy and safe,” she said.
Alana Best, a nursing unit clerk and CUPE union president at the Sackville hospital, said COVID-19 was more nerve-wracking earlier in the pandemic, but the situation remains difficult.… Continue
Year in review: CHMA’s news team looks back on some of the big stories you might have missed
Listen to Tantramar Report for Tuesday, January 3, 2022:
Tantramar Report: Black Duck to open a specialty grocery store, incoming Mount A students must declare vax status on campus
Locals on Bridge Street have been eying a mysterious new “Quality Grocery” sign hanging next to the Black Duck Café. The storefront, which is also owned by the co-owners of the Black Duck (Sarah Evans and Alan Barbour), has been vacant for years. Barbour and Evans have been working away at the space, with the blinds closed, but Barbour says that Sackvillians can expect a soft opening of a new specialty grocery store any day now. The store, so far unnamed beyond “Black Duck Quality Grocery,” will be stocked with frozen or refrigerated foods from the Black Duck’s kitchen, specialty food products, and local farmers’ unsold produce from Saturday’s market. Barbour also dreams of using any leftover produce in the Black Duck’s kitchen, to prevent food waste.
The Sackville Memorial Hospital is back open as of 8am this morning, but will be closed overnight this Monday, September 6th, due to a lack of available physicians.
Students at Mount Allison University are required to disclose their COVID-19 vaccine status both online through the Connect portal, and in person at a drop-in verification site. Mount Allison passed a mandatory mask and vaccine policy weeks ago, which required all students and staff to get the jab or be required to undergo regular testing and increasing public health measures. Before October 1st, all students need to indicate whether they’ve had two shots or not, which will determine what their everyday classroom experience will look like.… Continue
Tantramar Report: Kayak rentals coming to Silver Lake, walk-in vaccine clinic today, Higgs questioned about vaccine passports
The Town of Sackville put out another call for the unfilled Climate Change Coordinator position with EOS Eco-Energy. Amanda Marlin, the executive director of EOS, says that they didn’t find a candidate in the first round. The education requirements have been toned down from a masters degree to a bachelor’s with some experience, and an age demographic has been added. Those under 30 are encouraged to apply, since additional funding will be accessible to candidates of that age, but Marlin says that those over 30 should not be discouraged from applying. The position is only six months, and will serve as a coordinator of environmental projects between EOS and the Town of Sackville. Those interested should apply by September 12th.
The ParticiPACTION votes are in, and Matt Pryde of town recreation is excited to get to work on setting up kayak, canoe, and paddleboard rentals on Silver Lake. Of the four options, the kayak rentals were far and away the most popular, receiving over half of the votes. Pryde is optimistic that residents, and tourists, will be able to paddle on the lake starting next summer.
Premier Blaine Higgs and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell held a COVID-19 briefing yesterday, where they simultaneously congratulated 75% of eligible New Brunswickers who have been double-vaxxed and urged the other 25% to get the shot sooner rather than later. Reporters asked the two multiple times about the possibility of implementing vaccine passports in the province, which Premier Blaine Higgs did not commit one way or the other.… Continue
Tantramar Report: CUPE rally for frontline workers draws dozens, string of fires concerns Cap-Pelé, Sackville emergency room back open
A string of fires over the weekend in Cap-Pelé has residents concerned. The Cap-Pelé fire department attended three calls from Friday night through to Saturday, starting with a truck on fire near a barn in Baie Verte. Then early Saturday morning, the department was called to a small garage fire, and then an hour later, to a fire at the M&M Cormier Fisheries smokehouse in Petit-Cap. This is the third weekend in a row that a smokehouse in Petit-Cap has burned. The previous two weeks, fires destroyed two smokehouses and a packing facility in Petit-Cap. Cap-Pelé fire chief Ronald Cormier told the CBC he wasn’t sure what was going on, and whether there was an arsonist at work. He said people in the community are scared. CHMA is gathering more information about the fires, and will update this story when we have more.
Today is the final day to send in a proposal for Struts Gallery’s Fall Fair float. Director Paul Henderson says he’s happy to consult with artists to discuss options and logistics. Get in touch at info@strutsgallery.ca.
The Sackville Memorial Hospital’s emergency department was closed for all of Saturday and Sunday, but is open again this morning as of 8AM. The same day Horizon issued that release, they also asked that people stay away from emergency rooms all together unless they are in dire need of care. Fredericton, Miramichi, Moncton and Saint John were singled out, as facilities in those cities were all overwhelmed with patients. Instead,… Continue
Tantramar Report: Fort Folly Habitat Recovery cleans up Johnson’s Creek, 14 cases of community transmission, Struts to pay artist to build Fall Fair float
Tomorrow night is movie night at Dorchester School, where they will be screening Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” for free. The only thing you have to bring is a lawn chair, there will be free popcorn and bug spray available for movie-goers. The show starts at 8PM behind the school.
Someone has defaced a campaign sign for federal Liberal candidate Dominic Leblanc on Main Street near the on ramp to highway 2. The large campaign sign has been spray painted with a swastika, or an attempt at one (it was backwards), and a message reading “COVID Nazi”. The hyperbolic historical comparison is not the first on Sackville streets. Posters have appeared recently in town comparing Mount Allison’s mandatory vaccination or testing policy to racial segregation policies once the norm in parts of the US and Canada. Dominic Leblanc posted a response to the vandalism on social media Tuesday, calling it “despicable”, and a “display of hate and intolerance”. The sign has since been replaced.
Struts Gallery is looking for an artist to design and build a float for Sackville’s Fall Fair. The artist will be given creative liberty to build a moving sculpture or performance of sorts, with funds to cover their time and supplies. Struts will provide a trailer to pull the masterpiece. Float proposals are due by this Monday, August 30th.
14 recent cases of COVID-19 have been categorized as “community transmission,” 13 of which are in Zone 1 (Moncton).… Continue
Tantramar Report: EV rebate’s impact on local dealers, CUPE march for frontline workers, and AWI nature school registration open
On Thursday’s Tantramar Report:
Erica Butler called up Tina Amador, the general manager of Atlantic KIA in Amherst, to see how the new EV rebate program might affect local car dealers. Amador says that while EVs are not yet available in Sackville or Amherst, they are in Moncton, and some of her staff have started the process of getting trained to sell and service electric vehicles.
There is a Pfizer clinic at the Tantramar Civic Centre today between 9 and 5 today, but Charles Beaver says those slots are all booked up. If you register with the Corner Drug Store online, you might be able to get in as soon as September 2nd.
CUPE is organizing a march in solidarity with frontline workers in Sackville, after local advocates insisted Sackville be included. Sackville was originally excluded from the marching plans, according to local volunteer Judith Weiss, because of its low population. The march begins at 10 AM at the local hospital, and ends at the bandstand in the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park. Anyone interested in participating in a Sackville walk with CUPE on behalf of frontline workers can show up on Saturday. Look out for a Facebook event published by Alana Best, of CUPE local 720-1, for more details.
And registration is open for the Atlantic Wildlife Institute’s forest school program. The year-round part-time enrichment program will continue to offer outdoors-based learning, and this year they are offering a Wilderness Skills program, and Creative Arts and Music program. … Continue
Tantramar Report: Three Beausejour candidates named so far, Pfizer walk-in clinic, and a visit to a micro press
Wednesday on Tantramar Report:
Keagan Hawthorne lets us witness the printing of broadsides, which will be sold to raise funds for the Tantramar Literary Society. The broadsides are being printed on Hawthorne’s micropress, a large and heavy mechanical device that uses a hand crank to roll paper across inked letters, which he affectionately refers to as “The Beast.”
There is a Pfizer walk-in vaccine clinic today at the Guardian Corner Drug Store (between 10AM and 6:30PM), and more kids will be permitted to get the jab since the government now allows 11-year-olds who will turn 12 this year to be vaccinated. Early Childhood Development Minister Dominic Cardy says the decision was made to “help support healthy and safe schools” with the first day of classes just around the corner. This represents 2,832 more young people who can now get the shot. Since the province bases its vaccination rates on the percent of eligible New Brunswickers, it may appear that the vaccine rate is lower from here on out since the number of eligible people increased. Also, unexpectedly, the province realized during a routine review that over 8,000 vaccinations were not recorded, of which around 7,800 were second doses.
And the Conservatives and the People’s Party have announced who from their parties will run against incumbent Beausejour rep Dominic LeBlanc, but there is no word from either the Green or NDP party. So far, Beausejour constituents can choose between the incumbent candidate for the Liberal party, Dominic LeBlanc, Shelly Mitchell from the Conservatives, or Jack Minor from the People’s Party.… Continue
Zoning by-law infraction may lead to evictions in Sackville
Fifteen people in Sackville, most if not all of them students, might be out of a place to live come the end of the month.
Tenants of 131 Main Street starting reaching out in search of new apartments on Tuesday, saying they were informed by their landlord’s lawyer that they would need to vacate their building by January 31st.
Town of Sackville CAO Jamie Burke says that a hearing regarding a by-law infraction on the property took place last Friday in a Moncton court.
That hearing was adjourned and will continue this Friday.
The owner of the building, Gordon Beal, said the matter is still unresolved and didn’t comment further.
131 Main Street is a Sackville historic landmark, known as Allison House, Fisher House or Fawcett house, among other names. It was first built in 1841, with a major addition built in 1997.
Up until recently, the building was occupied by commercial tenants.
In 2014, Beal applied for zoning changes to build an apartment building behind Allison House, on the same property. After passing first and second reading, Sackville town council rejected the zoning changes required to build the apartment building.
The property is zoned Residential Historic Commercial, and allows for a number of uses including boarding houses, restaurants, professional offices and funeral homes, but not apartments.… Continue
EOS to share Sackville’s emissions for climate change week
Local nonprofit EOS Eco-Energy is excited to present climate change week online starting January 30th.
The week is dedicated to environmental education and sustainable practices, including an online composting with worms workshop, meatless Monday, and checking in on Tantramar’s emissions.
The Tantramar area has been working on its emission targets with EOS Eco-Energy since 2011.
Now, ten years later, Energy Projects Coordinator and Mount Allison University alumna Lauren Clark has some promising statistics.
The Town of Sackville set an emission reduction goal of 10%, and Clark announced that the town managed to reduce its emissions by 31%.
Clark says that NB Power is largely responsible for the significant reduction in emissions.
She breaks down how that happened, and how it is calculated, in a conversation with Meg Cunningham.
Climate change week will take place from January 30th to February 5th.
Check out climate change week events on EOS Eco-Energy’s website.
For more information on the community’s emissions, Clark presented the information during a special town council meeting on December 7th which is available on YouTube.
Clark’s findings will be presented to the public on February 2nd, between 12 and 1pm.
She welcomes any questions about the data or about EOS in general.… Continue