Cases in Saint John rising, red phase regulations changed

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On January 18, Public Health reported 26 new cases, nine of them are from Saint John.

“We have kept the avalanche of cases out of New Brunswick so far. We must act now to keep this virus from doing even more damage than we are already seeing, especially with transmission now in workplace”. Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, said.

According to Wayne Long, MP for Saint John–Rothesay, Dr Russell has confirmed that the Saint John region “is on the cusp of moving to the red level” on his social media.

Changes to red phase restrictions

Restrictions for red phase have been updated by the Government of New Brunswick.

The most controversial regulation has been keeping schools open to offer in-person classes, for grades K-12, instead of virtual ones. The news has caused concern to parents and teachers since other zones could be moving to the red phase soon.

Dominic Cardy, the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, has publicly apologized to teachers for the sudden change. It is unclear whether this will be reversed.

“The colour phases only hold water if we stick to the criteria that defined them [with] minimal changes. Otherwise we get into the sort of random reopening/locking down that’s undermined public trust in other places. If situation merits we’ll go to red.” Cardy tweeted last November.