FOG BLOG NB COVID LOG : ANOTHER DAY OVER 100 CASES, HOSPITALS GO TO RED ALERT LEVEL:

Rising COVID-19 numbers prompt New Brunswick hospitals to move to Red Alert levelFREDERICTON, N.B. -

The rising number of COVID-19 patients in New Brunswick has pushed hospitals into Red Alert level, permitting them to postpone non-urgent medical procedures and redeploy staff to maintain emergency operations.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Jennifer Russell reported 109 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, raising the number of active cases in the province to 1,092. There were 63 people hospitalized with the disease, she said, including 27 in intensive care.

"We are seeing a surge in new infections to levels that we have not experienced at any point since the pandemic began," Russell told reporters. Thirty-two of the new cases reported Tuesday involved people who were fully vaccinated, she said..."If you are unvaccinated, you are 18 times more likely to become severely ill if you contract the COVID-19 virus," she said. "I want every New Brunswicker to stay healthy, but there are now and will continue to be breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among people who have been fully vaccinated."

New Brunswick has reported a total of 75 COVID-19-related deaths.

Hospitals in the Vitalite Health Network moved to the Red Alert level Tuesday, although the Campbellton Regional Hospital imposed emergency measures last week to address an in-hospital outbreak. Under a Red Alert designation, hospitals are able to reduce or temporarily suspend services such as elective surgeries and non-urgent X-rays and scans.

"We must go to Red Alert internally so we can temporarily reduce or suspend non-essential services and thereby redeploy staff to maintain our emergency services and intensive care units and the care of patients with COVID-19 who are hospitalized," Vitalite CEO Dr. France Desrosiers said in a statement last week.