New Brunswick Modifies Isolation Requirements

At a press conference in Fredericton on Thursday, November 18, 2021, Premier Blaine Higgs announced that as of 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19, everyone in a household with a positive case of COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status, must isolate for 14 days. This applies to everyone in New Brunswick and is the latest initiative to help curb the spread of COVID-19 during New Brunswick's fourth wave.

“It is incredibly important that we get the spread of this virus under control, especially with the holiday season approaching,” said Premier Higgs. “The circuit breaker measures worked well in most zones, but after six weeks they were not having the desired effect in Zone 1, the Moncton region, and we needed to change our approach. We have to find the balance between what we think of as back to normal and living with the reality of COVID-19.”

Household members who are fully vaccinated will be able to leave isolation with a day five negative PCR test, but a day 10 PCR test will still need to be taken to confirm the negative result. Those who aren't fully vaccinated will be required to isolate for the full two-week period. 

“As we have done through this pandemic, we are adjusting our strategies to precisely target what is causing the current spread of COVID-19,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer. “About 49 per cent of new cases reported in the past seven days are a result of transmission within a household. Targeting our approach by having household members isolate will help to reduce this.”