The number of people admitted to New Brunswick hospitals due to COVID-19 remained steady over the last week.
According to the latest weekly COVID report, there were 19 hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, Oct. 1, compared to 18 the previous week.
Among those admitted to the hospital was one person under the age of 10 and another person in their 30s.
There were no new admissions to any of the province’s intensive care units, according to the provincial report.
As of Saturday, there were 19 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, which was unchanged from the week before. There was one person in an ICU, down from two a week earlier.
People between the ages of 70 and 89 account for the highest portion of hospitalizations, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the two regional health authorities reported 91 people in the hospital as of Oct. 1 (down from 95 a week earlier) and six in intensive care (down from seven).
- Horizon Health: 62 active admissions and five in intensive care, compared to 58 active admissions and four in intensive care one week ago.
- Vitalité Health: 29 active admissions and one in intensive care, compared to 37 active admissions and three in intensive care one week ago.
Unlike the provincial data, which only accounts for those who are admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, the regional health authorities also include the number of patients who are initially admitted for another reason and later test positive for the virus.
Five more deaths reported
A total of five deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported over the past week in New Brunswick.
Officials said the deaths included one person in their 70s, two people in their 80s, and two people aged 90 and over.
There have now been 490 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
Moncton region remains hotspot for new cases
A total of 1,053 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 596 positive PCR tests and 457 rapid tests. That was up from 930 reported positive cases the previous week.
The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 354 new cases, accounting for 34 per cent of last week’s total case count.
The Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded 29 per cent of the new cases while the Saint John health region (Zone 2) recorded 19 per cent of the new cases.
Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, six per cent were the BA.4 variant and 94 per cent were BA.5.
Vaccine doses
In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 659 doses were given out over the past week, including 143 first doses, 140 second doses, and 376 first booster doses. That is up from 499 doses the previous week.
A total of 85.4 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses and 53.7 per cent have received a booster shot.
According to the two health authorities, 105 health care workers were off the job as of Saturday for COVID-related reasons, up from 90 a week earlier.
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