On January 29, Dr. Jennifer Russell announced that Orange restrictions in New Brunswick will be adapted to include 10 people outside of the single household bubble.
During a virtual conference, on the one year anniversary of the first COVID-19 press conference in New Brunswick, Dr. Russell explained that households can choose a steady 10 people that they are permitted to visit.
“We’ve made these changes to the Orange alert level so that you can see members of your family and friends,” she explained, instructing residents to keep a list of the “steady 10” that they will be seeing. “This will enable people to protect themselves and their families against the virus while maintaining contact with others, which is vital for preserving our mental health.”
With new variants and strains of the virus that have a higher rate of transmission than the original strain, Dr. Russell explained that it is difficult to control what is happening with the pandemic.
“The virus itself controls what happens in this pandemic,” Dr. Russell explained, discussing the four known variants of the virus. “We are in the middle of the second wave right now, but the third wave is going to be upon us very soon, and that third wave is much worse than the first and second combined.”
Dr. Russell explained that the UK strain is now in Canada, and that it is an extremely dangerous strain of the virus. She maintained the importance of travel restrictions and self-isolation to ensure progress in the province’s handling of the pandemic.
With March break approaching, Dr. Russell asked residents to limit movements so that residents are not travelling between zones. Workers travelling out of New Brunswick must self-isolate upon returning to the province.