FOG BLOG NEW BRUNSWICK LOG: GOVERNMENT GIVING EXPANDED ROLES TO PHARMACISTS AND PARAMEDICS:

N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Six new deaths, paramedics can 'treat and release' patients...Health minister details handful of expanded primary-care options meant to ease strain on health system......

Modelling looks good' for lifting Level 3 restrictions
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Public Health announced six COVID-related deaths in four zones on Wednesday, bringing the province's death toll from COVID-19 to 221. The deaths included a person in their 80s in the Moncton region, Zone 1, a person in their 80s in the Fredericton region, Zone 3, a person in their 80s and another in their 90s in the Bathurst region, Zone 6, and a person in their 40s and another their 80s in the Miramichi region, Zone 7. There are 137 people in hospital as of Wednesday, eight of those in intensive care, including one person who is on a ventilator. Of that 137, 80 were admitted for reasons other than COVID-19, 107 are age 60 or over, and four are age 19 or under, Public Health said in a news release on Wednesday. As of Wednesday, more than 40 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers, or 303,000 people, have received their booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 55 per cent of eligible children aged five to 11 have received their first dose...At a health-care news conference Wednesday, Health Minister Dorothy Shephard was asked several times about whether the province is still on track to move to the less restrictive Level 2 on Sunday.

The province was placed under Level 3, the strictest level of restrictions, at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14. Premier Blaine Higgs has been adamant that those Level 3 restrictions will end on Sunday night.

Shephard said Wednesday that Public Health will make any announcement around whether or not the Level 3 restrictions will be lifted.

"That's going to be addressed later this week, but I will say the modelling looks good," she said.

Earlier Wednesday, Nova Scotia's Premier Tim Houston announced that province will not be lifting restrictions on Jan. 31.

The current restrictions, imposed provincewide in December, will remain in place until at least Feb. 14 and will be lifted in a "phased approach," he said, noting the timeline will depend on the momentum of the booster campaign, the number of hospitalizations and overall stress on the health-care system.

Restrictions imposed provincewide in December include indoor and outdoor informal gathering limits of 10 people and capacity reductions to 50 per cent for bars and restaurants.