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One of the New Brunswick health districts that have been restricted by circuit breakers in the past few weeks is still reporting a large number of COVID-19, which has led the province's top doctors to believe that there is a violation.

The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, said at a briefing on Wednesday that the ongoing COVID-19 activity in District 1 of the Moncton area shows that “many people do not respect the circuit breaker measures”.

Currently, the circuit breaker is located in Zone 1, as far as Sainte-Anne-de-Kent in the north, and most of the Saint-John area in Zone 2.

The province also expanded the circuit breaker to most of District 7 of the Miramichi region in response to the "dramatic" increase in the number of cases there.

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According to these restrictions, private parties with people outside of their own family are not allowed, and travel in and out of the circuit breaker is restricted. The complete list of rules can be found here.

Russell said that although the number of cases in the St. John’s area is declining, despite the circuit breaker measures, the number of cases in the Moncton area is still increasing.

Russell said: "Now, if everyone abides by the circuit breaker restrictions and restricts their close contacts to immediate family members, technically speaking, the epidemic should have been significantly reduced by this time."

"A few people can influence larger groups, larger regions, larger regions, and the entire hospital system."

She said that most of the cases in the Moncton area spread within the family and can then be transmitted to close contacts.

Russell added that she believes that most people respect these restrictions, "but for those who do not respect, this has a huge impact on this community."

"I know the limitations of the circuit breaker are hard to accept," she admitted.

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"They disrupt the patterns of daily life and hinder our ability to keep in touch with people around us. This is very important for our mental health. I don't want these restrictions to last longer than necessary.

"But now they are necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19."

In terms of implementing the rules, Health Minister Dorothy Shephard stated that the province is working with its security partners to “comply” and respond to complaints.

She said they will check people who should self-isolate to make sure they do.

At the briefing, Shepard stated that as of 6 pm on Friday, almost all 7 districts in the Miramichi area will begin circuit breaker measures for at least the next 14 days.

These restrictions will cover most of the health zone, excluding the Black River Bridge and Eastern Region, Murray Settlement and Southern Region, and New Jersey and Northern Region.

Sheppard said she was "very worried" about the "high" number of cases in the Moncton area, and stated that the circuit breaker measures in the area will continue for another seven days.

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However, she said it will now be reduced to cover only Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview, and measures in other areas will end at 6pm on Friday.

Due to the "significant improvement" in Zone 2 of the St. John's area, the circuit breaker measures in this area will end at 6pm on Friday.

According to information released by the province, there were 69 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. Among them, 39 have not been vaccinated and 30 have been fully vaccinated.

There are 44 new recovered cases and there are now 548 active cases.

There are currently 17 people in hospital, of which 13 have not been vaccinated and 4 have been fully vaccinated. Of the 11 people in the intensive care unit, 10 were not vaccinated and 1 was fully vaccinated.

More than 86% of eligible New Brunswick people were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and 93% received one dose.

The 11 new cases in Zone 1 (Moncton area) are as follows:

Six cases are under investigation, and five are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

The 21 new cases in District 2 (St. John's area) are as follows:

Sixteen cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases, and five cases are under investigation.

The 17 new cases in District 3 (Fredericton area) are as follows:

Ten cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases, and seven cases are under investigation.

One new case in District 4 (Edmonton area) is a person 19 years and younger. The case is under investigation.

The four new cases in Zone 5 (Campbellton area) are as follows:

Three cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases, and one case is under investigation.

A new case in District 6 (Bathurst area) is a person 19 years and younger who is a contact of a previously confirmed case.

The 14 new cases in District 7 (Miramichi area) are as follows:

Eleven cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases, and three cases are under investigation.

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