N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 5 more deaths, 63 anglophone schools report cases 1st day back

New Brunswick recorded five more COVID-related deaths Tuesday, marking 15 deaths since the province returned to the less restrictive Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan on the weekend and raising the pandemic death toll to 243.

The latest deaths include a person 90 or over in the Moncton region, Zone 1, and two people in their 70s and two people in their 80s in the Saint John region, Zone 2.

The number of people in hospital jumped by 10 to 162. Sixty-seven of them are hospitalized for COVID-19 and the other 95 with COVID, meaning they were already admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus.

Of those in hospital, three are 19 or under, a new category on the COVID dashboard shows, and 124 are aged 60 or over.

Seventeen people are in intensive care, all but one of them for COVID, and seven of them are on ventilators, unchanged.

The seven-day average of hospitalizations increased to 150, from 147, while the seven-day average of ICU admissions increased to 13, from 12.

There were 228 new cases of COVID-19 reported, based on PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, putting the total active case count at 4,408.

An additional 603 people self-reported testing positive at home with rapid tests.

A total of 690,609 PCR tests have been conducted to date, including 2,117 on Monday.

The regional breakdown of PCR-confirmed cases includes:

Moncton region, Zone 1

• 74 new cases and1,581 active cases

Saint John region, Zone 2

• 56 newcases and 1,067active cases

Fredericton region, Zone 3

• 41 newcases and 503active cases

Edmundston region, Zone 4

• 23newcases and 397active cases

Campbellton region, Zone 5

• Seven newcases and 213active cases

Bathurst region, Zone 5

• 15 newcases and 456active cases

Miramichi region, Zone 7

• 12 cases and 191active cases

As of Tuesday, 44.3 per cent of eligible New Brunswick have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, up from 44 per cent, 84.5 per cent have received two doses of a vaccine, unchanged, and 92.1 per cent have received one dose, also unchanged.

New Brunswick has had 29,113 cases of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic with 24,460 recoveries so far.

COVIDin schools

One day after New Brunswick students resumed in-person learning, 63 public schools in the anglophone districts each have at leastone reported case of COVID-19.

In the francophone districts, COVID exposure advisories are in effect at 60 schools, although when they were reported is not indicated.

Monday was the first time most students were back in classrooms since the holiday break. They've been learning online at home since Jan. 11.

AnglophoneSouth School District says the cases at17 of its schools include reports from last weekend.

Anglophone North School District also lumps Monday reports in with the weekend,for a total of nine schools.

But the 24 affected schools at Anglophone West and 13 schools at Anglophone East are all from Monday, according to their dashboards.

District scolaire francophone Nord-Ouestlists15 schools with reported cases,District scolaire francophone Nord-Estlists 21 schools andDistrict scolaire francophone Sud,29 schools.

"An exposure advisory remains in effect if there has been at least one positive case reported in the last 10 days," the south district's website states in French.

The Department of Education's daily summary website of COVID-19 impacts on schoolsacross the province hasn't been updated since Dec. 22. "Regular updates will resume when in-person learning resumes," it states.

"TheCOVID-19 summary is expected to be updated soon," department spokespersonFlavio Nienowsaid in an email Tuesday afternoon.

As of Dec. 22,897 cases of COVID had been confirmed in193 schools since Sept. 7.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said last week there would be"risks" with the return to school, but she wasconfident those risks were "manageable."

Among some of the measures in place:

• Classrooms bubbles for students in kindergartento Grade 8
• Universal indoor masking, exceptwhen eating or drinking, for staff, students at all grade levels
• Outdoors, K-8 students not required to wear a mask if they're within their bubble
• Limited use of wind instruments and singing
• Vaccination requirements for those 12 or older for extracurricular activities, sports and clubs
• KN95-grade masks or higher will be provided for teachers and staff
• Well-fitting,three-layer masks are recommended for students
• Families are responsible for notifying schools if their child tests positive

Public Health used to notify schools of positive cases, conduct contact tracing and notify close contacts, while schools or school districts used to notify families of positive cases.

Now,each school district now has its own COVID dashboard, where they list schools that have at least one reported COVID case daily. It's up to families to check the lists.

MPs weigh in on Ottawa protest

New Brunswick MPs are weighing in on the ongoing protest in Ottawa against COVID-19 rules.

Convoys of thousands of people from across the country arrived in the national capital Friday and demonstrationshave taken over much of the city's downtown core since then.

Fredericton Liberal MP Jenica Atwin says the large number of participants can't be ignored, but neither can the hateful messages some people are sending.

"I don't think the government can just back down. I think that would send a bad precedent, you know, to Canadians who say that if you do actions like this, that your demands are going to be met," she said.

"I also understand as well how important it is to be vaccinated and in the U.S. border, you're going to still be met with that restriction, so it doesn't really make a lot of sense at this point either. And again, with the sheer numbers of vaccinated Canadians, most of us have done this for our collective well-being."

Conservative MP for New Brunswick SouthwestJohn Williamson posted a statement of support for the protesters on Facebook.

He says they represent growing opposition to Liberal restrictions on Canadians and he agrees it's time to end lockdown measures.

Instead of limiting travel and shutting down schools and businesses, Williamson contends the government should focus on fixing the health-care system.

Conservative MP Jake Stewart of Miramichi-Grand Lake says he attended the protest and met a wide cross-section of Canadians.

He says the vast majority said they were vaccinated and were there because of concerns their freedoms are at stake.

Quebec scraps planned tax on unvaccinated

Quebec Premier Franois Legaulthas scrapped his controversial planfor a health tax for the unvaccinated,in order to protect "social cohesion" in the province.

The tax, announced by Legault last monthas a "health contribution," would have imposed a monetary penaltyon adults who refused to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for non-medical reasons.

"I understand that this divides Quebecers and right now we have to build bridges," he announced Tuesday.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to make life "increasingly uncomfortable" forthose who choose to be unvaccinated and as of last Thursday, a health tax was one of the ideas still under review.

"We still have a report coming forward to understand the impact that those will have and analyzing what others are doing," hetold reporters during the COVID briefing.

"There's been lots of discussion about whether the health tax will have an impact or not, or whether it's even being able to be put in place."

Last month, Higgs said a health tax would be complicated.

"We have to look at that in the context of our public health system. And where does that stop?"

He questioned, for example, if someone who doesn't take care of their health as well as others, or isn't as healthy, would also warrant an additional fee.

During Thursday's briefing, Higgs said the return to the less restrictive Level 2 would serve as "a positive reinforcement" for those whohave been vaccinated.

"So the more we can open up and in areas that require vaccinated people, the same impact [as cracking down on the unvaccinated] can be had," he said.

"If we have to go further, I mean, those items are still being identified and listed and understanding what the impact is to do that."

Higgs reiterated that "everything is on the table for consideration."

Another idea being explored is requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination at liquor and cannabis stores.