Less than a day after moving to Phase 1 of New Brunswick’s path to Green, health officials will move the entire province to Phase 2 at midnight on Wednesday night.
At a media briefing Wednesday afternoon, Premier Blaine Higgs and Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Russell said 20.2 per cent of seniors over the age of 65 are fully vaccinated.
Around 75.4 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 89,000 New Brunswickers now have both doses.
A total of 12.9 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated, which is up from 11.8 per cent on Tuesday.
“We have been living with this pandemic for so long that it’s hard to believe that we’re so close to reaching the green level,” said Higgs.
One of the big changes under Phase 2 is opening the Atlantic Bubble to include all of Nova Scotia. Now all Atlantic Canada can enter New Brunswick without having to register in advance or self-isolate on arrival.
Anyone coming to New Brunswick from outside of the Atlantic Bubble would still be required to register their travel and bring proof of vaccination. Rotational workers and their families also don’t have to isolate.
Travellers from outside Atlantic Canada are also exempt from isolation if they have one or both doses of the vaccine. Those who haven’t been vaccinated still have to isolate while they wait for a negative test result.
The same rules would apply to the state of Maine once the federal government allows more international travel into Canada.
International travellers with no vaccine or only one dose must continue to isolate for 14 days and be tested on day 10, as per federal requirements. Fully vaccinated international travellers are exempt from having to isolate.
Phase 2 also allows restaurants, businesses and schools to operate at normal capacity while continuing contact tracing for clients. Mask use will still be required when physical distancing cannot be maintained and when people are not eating or drinking.
All other Public Health guidelines will remain in place until the province moves to the third phase, which Russell says can’t happen until the majority of New Brunswickers are fully vaccinated and remains vigilant about testing and watching for symptoms.
“We are all ready to enjoy less restricted life, and it is more important now more than ever to take care not to unintentionally spread the virus,” said Russell.
“We are well on our way to Green. Let’s make sure we get there together, healthy and safe.”
As the numbers of fully vaccinated residents continue to increase, along with freeing up travel, Russell said she expects case numbers to go up. But the province believes we continue moving forward with our recovery plan if more New Brunswickers are vaccinated.
“We will likely see more cases, but the good news that more of our people are getting vaccinated every single day, which means more people are protected,” said Russell.
Higgs said if the province continues its current path, New Brunswick could lift all restrictions earlier than expected.
“Imagine getting more summer without masks — let’s do this together,” said Higgs. “We must be sure that we don’t let our guard down now.”
Any New Brunswicker who received their first vaccine dose before May 1 can now book an appointment for their second dose, and everyone can get a second on Monday if it’s been 28 days since their first dose.
Russell said the federal government will provide more than enough vaccines to get New Brunswick to fully vaccinate residents in the next several weeks. She said the province expects 175,000 doses of Moderna coming over the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, Public Health confirmed three new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday afternoon, with the Moncton, Fredericton and Bathurst regions each gaining a case. All three are connected to close contacts of previously confirmed cases.
New Brunswick now has 58 active cases of COVID-19, which is the lowest number of active cases since mid-March. Six patients are in hospital, including two in intensive care units.
With files from Brad Perry.
Aaron Sousa is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
