N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 2 employees at Campbellton hospital test positive

Two employees of the Campbellton Regional Hospital have tested positive for COVID-19, Public Health announced Thursday.

The new cases bring the province's total during the pandemic to 153.

One of the new cases is a person in their 30s, the other is someone in their 40s. The province didn't say what jobs they hold at the hospital.

"All of the stakeholders at the Campbellton Regional Hospital are mobilized to ensure that everything is in place to provide quality care and ensure the safety of patients and staff," said Gilles Lanteigne, chief executive officer of Vitalit Health Network.

"Our processes are in place, our staff are trained and have the personal protective equipment they need to do their jobs. I am confident that we will get through these difficult times."

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Three people in the Campbellton region have recovered from the respiratory illness, keeping the total number of active cases in New Brunswick at 29, including two in Moncton.

The first in a cluster of cases was reported May 21 in the Campbellton region, also known as Zone 5, afteradoctor travelled to Quebecfor personal reasons and did not self-isolate after returning home to the area. Many of the cases have been found at Manoir de la Valle, a long-term care facility in Atholville.

One resident of the Manoir has died. Five people from the region are in hospital, one of them in intensive care.

"This is an evolving situation at the Campbellton Regional Hospital and everyone must watch for symptoms since COVID-19 is going to be with us for a long time," said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said in the news release announcing the new cases.

As of Thursday, 35,753 tests have been conducted for COVID-19 in the province.

139 prosecutions under state of emergency

The province is extending its state of emergency for another two weeksafter beingimplemented almost three months ago.

As of June 8, there have been 139 prosecutions, including both tickets and charges for non-compliance under the current state of emergency.

"A peace officer may issue a fine in the amount of $240 plus surcharge and fees," saidGeoffrey Downey, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety.

"In instances where an offence is brought to court, in certain circumstances a judge may issue a fine to an amount not exceeding $10,200 plus surcharge and fees."

Temporary foreign worker was travelling with 158 others

A temporary worker who tested positivefor COVID-19 in the Moncton area earlier this week was travelling on a charterplanewith a total of 158 people, Premier Blaine Higgs said Thursday.

The worker is self-isolatingbut did visit "three different locations," Higgs said during question period.

Following an outbreak among migrant workers in British Columbia, employers in New Brunswick are required to have a COVID-19 operational plan in place, which assures workers arriving to New Brunswick have appropriate accommodations before and after self-isolation, proper food, access to health insurance, along with proper cleaning and disinfection of their work space.

"All contact tracing will be identified, including any exposure to [the]outside,which we believe there isn't any because those are the rules," he said.

Temporary foreign workers were banned from the province April 28 as part of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The move brought criticism from farmers and fish-plant operators who rely on the workers.

The province allowed the workers into the province at the end of May because not enough New Brunswickers appliedto fill in at plants and on farms.

Higgs said about430 new temporary foreign workers have arrived since the pandemic reached New Brunswick.

Average of 62 vehicles turned away daily at New Brunswick borders

Premier Blaine Higgs said Thursday, he is still in discussions with the three other premiers from the Atlantic region about creating an Atlantic travel bubble with all four provinces.

Since March 25,an average of 57 vehicles have been turned away from New Brunswick borders each day. On Tuesday, 62 vehicles were turned away.

"The numbers are smaller on weekends than weekdays," Department of Public Safety spokespersonGeoffrey Downey, said in an emailed statement to CBC News.

The number of vehicles arriving has more or less steadily increased since March 25, and so have the number of refusals."

He also said an average of 287 people are ordered to self-isolate daily.

Court of Queen's Bench moves to church in Woodstock

The Court of Queen's Bench in Woodstock has temporarily moved all cases to the Woodstock Baptist Church.

This is to accommodate spacing requirements needed to hold jury selections and trials. In a news release, the province said it will also ensure "the continuity of all Court of Queen's Bench matters, including family court hearings."

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"As a result of not being able to safely within the COVID parameters host a lot of the ongoings within courts, mainly the jury piece, we were forced to look elsewhere for a suitable facility so as to ensure the wheels of justice continue to turn," said Ross Gorman, regional director of court services for the south district.

All matters involving the Court of Queen's Bench will take place in the church's gymnasium until the end of the year.

The church is located directly across the street from Woodstock's Justice Building.

Provincial court matters will continue to be held at Woodstock's justice building.

Red Cross tries to helpseniors feel less isolated

The Red Cross is starting a program to help seniors feel less isolated during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Friendly Calls program will see isolated seniors matched with volunteers from the Red Cross.

Volunteers will regularly call seniors to check in and talk. The goal is to reduce feelings of isolation in a group that is particularly at risk of COVID-19 and who might already have felt isolated.

"It's just someone to talk to for those folks who have no one to talk to," said Bill Lawlor, provincial director of the Red Cross.

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"They don't have family around, at least in the Atlantic provinces. Or they don't have family at all. No one to provide that type of support."

Seniors or their families cancallthe Red Cross and go through a short introductory interview to make sure they're a good fit for the program.

After that, seniors are matched with a volunteer.

"We find a volunteer who can meet the schedule, try to see if we can meet some similar personality traits as much as possible, and then we'll give it a trial run," said Lawlor.

"If it continues to work well then they'll just carry on if not, that's ok. We can switch out."

While the goal of the program is toease feelings of isolation, Lawlor saidsimilar programs in the past have helped in other ways, such as detecting early stages of memory loss.

"In the course of a conversation, you can start to pick up things that might suggest that someone is not feeling well, but they haven't made an appointment with their physician," said Lawlor.

Lawlordoesn't have concrete numbers for how many volunteers are needed but is urging anyone interested to call the Red Cross.

He also urges family and friends to talk to seniors about joining the program, particularly those who are shy.

"There's those folks who could really benefit from this interaction who you know they won't call," said Lawlor.

"They don't feel they will benefit from it even though clearly they could."

New Brunswickers encouraged to renew licences

The province is urging people to renewlicences, registrations, certificates and permits that had their expiration dates extended until the end of June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waiting until the end of June couldcause delays, particularly for driver's licences, which take two weeks to process and be mailed out.

The province saidService New Brunswick has been increasing the number of services it offers online and through Teleservices, especially for some of its most requested renewals, such asdriver's licences.

"Online and Teleservices are the most accessible, safe and convenient service methods," saidService New Brunswick Minister Sherry Wilson in a news release.

"Based upon the significant increase in these methods, we believe New Brunswickers are embracing them."

Twelve centres offerin-person services, by appointment only, for things that cannot be completed online or through Teleservices.

City of Saint John looking at ways to recover financially

The City of Saint John's COVID-19 economic recovery team has been looking to residents and businesses for ideason how it can financial recover from the virus.

With major gatherings put on hold and the cancelling of the city's lucrative cruise ship season, there's no end in sight for the port city.

"What they're trying to do is utilize the city's assets, facilities, programs, investments to accelerate that economic and community recovery," said Phil Ouellette, the deputy commissioner of growth and community development services.

"More specifically, one of the things that we are seeking to do is to increase people traffic in these commercial districts of the city, where those businesses that have been so hard hit by COVID-19 are located."

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Any move to bring more business into the uptown will inevitably have to adhere to physical distancing rules, which means the city may have to get creative when drawing in more tourists.

Saint John Mayor Don Darling said it's also important to be aware of the many New Brunswickers who have lost their jobs or have been hit financially by the pandemic.

"I'm having a lot of conversation myself with small, medium-sized business owners, large business owners, to try to understand where are we?, Darling said. "And what are the crowds like? And what is recovery looking like in the early days?"

What to do if you have symptoms

People concerned they might haveCOVID-19 cantake a self-assessmenton the government website at gnb.ca.

Public Health says symptoms shown by people with COVID-19 have included: a fever above 38 C, a new cough or worsening chronic cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, new onset of fatigue, new onset of muscle pain, diarrhea, loss of sense of taste or smell, and difficulty breathing. In children, symptoms have also included purple markings on the fingers and toes.

People with two of those symptoms are asked to:

• Stay at home.

• Call Tele-Care 811 or their doctor.

• Describe symptoms and travel history.

• Follow instructions.