The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in New Brunswick has surpassed 600.
According to the latest weekly COVID report, four more deaths were reported over the past week in New Brunswick.
Officials said the most recent deaths involved two people in their 70s, one person in their 80s, and one person aged 90 and over.
There have now been 603 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
COVID hospitalizations reported cases down
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and reported cases fell over the past week in New Brunswick.
Public Health reported 22 new hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, Nov. 12, compared to 23 the previous week. Among those admitted to the hospital was one person under the age of 10.
There were no new admissions to the province’s intensive care units compared to three the week before.
As of Saturday, there were 29 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, down from 33 the week before. There was no one reported to be in an ICU, compared to five people 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 131 people in the hospital as of Nov. 12 (down from 146 a week earlier) and two in intensive care (down from 10).
- Horizon Health: 98 active admissions and one in intensive care, compared to 117 active admissions and seven in intensive care one week ago.
- Vitalité Health: 33 active admissions and one in intensive care, compared to 29 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.
Moncton region remains hotspot for new cases
A total of 807 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 518 positive PCR tests and 289 rapid tests. That was down from 866 reported positive cases the previous week.
The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 248 new cases, accounting for nearly 31 per cent of last week’s total case count.
The Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded nearly 26 per cent of the new cases while the Saint John health region (Zone 2) reported 19 per cent of the new cases.
Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, one per cent was the BA.2 variant, five per cent was BA.4, and 94 per cent was BA.5.
Vaccine doses
In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 3,879 doses were given out over the past week, including 140 first doses, 115 second doses, 404 first booster doses, and 3,220 second booster doses.
A total of 85.6 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses, 54.2 per cent have received a booster shot, and 25.5 per cent have received their second booster.
According to the two health authorities, 79 health care workers were off the job for COVID-related reasons as of Saturday, down from 117 a week earlier.
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