Public health announced 11 new cases of COVID-19 in the province yesterday. All 11 cases are in the Edmundston region. 6 are under investigation and 5 are related to previous cases. Public health also advised that the red level measures in place around Edmundston will be expanded to include a larger geographic area, based on, “the confirmed presence of the more contagious variants of COVID-19 along with the possibility of community transmission.”
Public health also reported that asymptomatic testing in the Edmundston area has been yielding results. After screening a total of 3,335 people without symptoms over a two day period, public health says it identified three confirmed cases in people with no symptoms.
A total of 11 new cases along with some recoveries puts the provincial active case count at 120 for Monday.
In Zone 1, public health reported the fifth day in a row with no new cases. The active case count in the region remains at nine.
UPDATED: MEASURES AT MOUNT ALLISON LIFTED TUESDAY
Extra measures put in place at Mount Allison University on March 21 are now lifted. Acting Vice President for Student Affairs Anne Comfort emailed students and staff on Tuesday morning to say that non-essential, in-person activities can resume, and that facilities like the Ralph Pickard Bell Library, the athletic centre, and the Pond may reopen.
Those facilities were closed on Monday of last week after a case of COVID-19 connected to Mount Allison’s off-campus community was reported by the university. Public health confirmed the case as the B-117 or UK variant. At the same time, it confirmed a case of the B-117 variant related to Moncton High School, and also that there was only one variant case confirmed in Zone 1, leaving the possibility that this single case was connected to both the Mount Allison and Moncton High School.
Comfort’s letter says the university received word from New Brunswick public health that, “all of the test results for individuals who were linked to the one positive case of COVID-19 in our community have been negative.”
Moncton High School reopened on Monday after a week of operational response days and at-home learning. Principal Mike Belong issued a letter to his school community on Sunday letting them know that public health had given the all clear for the school to reopen.
ASTRA-ZENECA ON HOLD FOR PEOPLE UNDER 55
In other COVID-19 news, public health announced on Monday that it would suspend the use of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine in people under 55 following a recommendation by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Public Health says it will continue using Astra-Zeneca for those over 55 as there have not been any serious effects noted for that age group.
300,000 shots of Astra Zenaca have been administered in Canada already with no reports of blood clots, officials told CBC News.
Public health says incidents of blood clots in Europe have been extremely rare. “Of the 20 million doses of the vaccine administered in Europe,” says a government news release, “there have been 25 incidents of this happening or about one in a million.”
The new rules around Astra-Zeneca won’t immediately impact vaccine operations in Sackville, as the pharmacies here and in the rest of Zone 1 have been administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to Corner Drug Store owner and pharmacist Charles Beaver.
