Province is 'trying to save Christmas' with new COVID-19 measures, says Higgs

Premier Blaine Higgs says the province is "trying to save Christmas," while balancing the threat posed by the new omicron variant.

The province wants people to have the opportunity to get together with their families, but is concerned about the three confirmed cases of the highly transmissible variant linked to the St. Francis Xavier University outbreak in Nova Scotia, and four presumed cases, he told reporters Tuesday.

That's why he announced COVID-19 "interim measures" Monday, which include a household limit of "steady 20" of contacts, instead of moving to Level 2 of the winter plan, which would limit people to two-household bubbles, among other tighter restrictions.

"So all of this is trying to balance what people are doing, getting ready for the holiday season, and saying, 'Can we save Christmas? Can we can we have people enjoying family?'"

The province is also trying to balance not making the restrictions so tight that people simply ignore them and proceed with their holiday plans.

"We could implement a significant slow down, lockdown change and do it overnight. But I think the point is, would people accept it? And then do things just get worse because people say, 'You're not ruining my Christmas?'"

Higgs acknowledged the province won't be able to enforce any new restrictions "in a meaningful way."

"So the idea here is, OK, we're taking the measures appropriate for what we know right now."

He noted the situation could change within days. The province is keeping a close eye on transmissions and on how the St. FX outbreak is unfolding in Antigonish.

"We do not have the situation right here now that puts us to Level 2, but we have the anticipation that that could come. So we are bracing for that."

Liberal Leader Roger Melanson contends vaccination capacity and accessibility are key.

He wants to see the first dose COVID-19 vaccination rate among children aged five to 11, currently about 28 per cent, "way higher," and the booster dose rate among those eligible, currently 9.6 per cent, boosted as well.

"For me, there should be an announcement like right now about the plan of vaccination over the next two months," he said.

The province has said eligibility for booster doses will be expanded to those in their 40s "in the coming weeks," and then to all other New Brunswickers. It's working on boosting its capacity, Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said Monday.

Melanson questioned whether the government acted quickly enough to prepare.

"We knew that the new omicron variant was going to get to New Brunswick, we just didn't know when."

He said it's going to be another "difficult" Christmas with restrictions, but he hopes people will respect the measures.

"At the end of the day, [they're] there to protect them and their friends and loved ones."

Stricter measures after holidays predicted

Green Party Leader David Coon believes the "vast majority" of New Brunswickers will comply with holiday restrictions, but he doesn't think the province's roll out of booster COVID-19 vaccine doses will be fast enough to fight omicron.

"My prediction is after the Christmas holidays, we're going to see some much stricter measures come in because of the consequences of Christmas."

Higgs agreed, "odd are," there probably will be.

"But let's hope it's not required because we haven't blown it at Christmas time. Let's just hope that we don't pay for our excesses during the holiday season, that we're [not] paying for that all through January, February and March and beyond."

He urged people to follow the "reasonable" measures.

"Can we get people to say, 'Look, I can be part of this —  20 [contacts] works for me. I can be careful when I'm out, when I'm going shopping or whatever I'm doing. I can be wearing the mask. I can be staying at a distance. I don't have to go to that banquet or that bar tonight. 

"We're really appealing to the public to help us save Christmas."