FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s auditor general has identified 33 recommendations that the Health Department made at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic without showing evidence to substantiate the decisions.

In his report presented to the legislature, Paul Martin found the office of the chief medical officer of health did not have documentation of scientific articles or analyses it consulted before making the recommendations.

Martin says his report covered areas including measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, testing, contact tracing and contact management.

In the report covering the period from April 1, 2020 — soon after the pandemic began — to March 31, 2022, Martin found while the Health Department went “above and beyond to support New Brunswickers,” there are several areas that need improvement.

The report found the Department of Health had performance targets at the height of the pandemic, but outcomes were not consistently tracked or used for decision-making.

An initial report on the pandemic response released in September found that New Brunswick did not learn lessons from the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2023.

The Canadian Press