Northern N.B. village confused by position in orange zone

A northern New Brunswick town just minutes from the edge of health zone borders is upset by the decision to place it under tight restrictions.

The province forced the Campbellton region, or Zone 5, and Moncton region, or Zone 1, back to the orange recovery phase last week after recent outbreaks. Those changes include the rural village of Kedgwick — which is unsure how it ended up in Zone 5.

Mayor Janice Savoie told Radio-Canada she plans to ask the minister of health to redraw the boundaries. 

"I want to stay in Zone 4 because I want to allow my people to be able to continue to work," she said.

The rural village of about 2,000 is an hour southwest of Campbellton and has close ties to the neighbouring town of Saint-Quentin.

There's confusion and frustration among residents on how the two communities — just 15 minutes apart — ended up in different health zones.

Under orange level restrictions, non-essential travel between zones is not permitted, and some businesses must close, including barbers and hair salons.

Schools are also under more stringent guidelines and masks are now required in all indoor and outdoor public places.

Officials in Kedgwick say they are confused and angry that they ended up in Zone 5 instead of Zone 4 — the Edmundston region — like Saint-Quentin.

Savoie said the municipality has been moved between health Zones 4 and 5 without communication or explanation from the province. She's frustrated now that businesses are forced to close.

"They spent a lot of money to protect the public," Savoie said.

Nicolas Savoie, the president of the Kedgwick Regional Chamber of Commerce, said he fears the repercussions for small business owners.

"When there aren't any cases of COVID-19 in a place, leave them alone," he said. "It's already hard enough as it is and people are already stressed enough as it is."

The neighbouring village of Saint-Quentin remains in the less restrictive yellow recovery phase.

Mayor Nicole Somers said her community was briefly in the orange phase over the weekend but was reclassified under Zone 4. It's in the yellow phase again.

"We are going to ask for a meeting to ensure this boundary is respected in the future," Somers said. "It's becoming very difficult to explain this to citizens."