FOG BLOG NB NEWS LOG: NB SETS NEW RECORD FOR COVID 19 CASES AT 174, MOST IN FREDERICTON REGION!

N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Single-day high of 174 new cases, 2 more deaths.......Nearly half of new cases involve youth.......

No plan to tighten restrictions in Fredericton region, despite spike
Breakdown of new cases
No need for proof of vax at major retailers, province says
15 cases in schools, child-care facilities
66 travellers from omicron-barred countries now isolating
Atlantic COVID roundup

New Brunswick recorded a single-day record high of 174 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and two more COVID-related deaths. The previous record was 140 new cases on Oct. 2. A person in their 50s in the Campbellton region, Zone 5, and a person in their 50s in the Miramichi region, Zone 7, have died as a result of COVID-19, Public Health said in a news release. This raises the pandemic death toll to 138. Nearly half of the new cases involve youth. Forty-four are under 10 and 38 are aged 10 to 19......."We are continuing to see a high number of cases in people under the age of 19, especially in Zone 3, the Fredericton region," Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said in a statement.

The increase "does not come as a surprise," she said, as those aged five to 11 only recently became eligible for vaccination.

But the province is encouraging parents and guardians to take advantage of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's rapid-testing program for their children.

Under the program, aimed at detecting the virus and slowing the spread, parents or guardians of unvaccinated children identified as close contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case can pick up rapid-test kits at their child's school.

"Unlike older people and those who have underlying health conditions, the vast majority of young people who catch the virus experience relatively mild symptoms and do not require hospitalization," said Shephard.

The increase in cases, however, "emphasizes the importance of children receiving the vaccine and the need for parents and guardians to get vaccinated, and get their boosters when they are eligible, to help reduce the spread and keep our number of hospitalizations manageable.".