New Brunswick health officials reported six more deaths attributed to COVID-19 over the past week.
The latest weekly COVID report was released by the Department of Health on Tuesday.
According to the report, the most recent deaths involved one person in their 50s, four people in their 80s, and one person aged 90 and over.
There have now been 621 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
COVID hospitalizations up, ICU admissions down
Public Health said the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 climbed over the past week.
There were 32 new hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, Dec. 3, compared to 27 the previous week.
There were no new admissions to the province’s intensive care units compared to three the week before.
As of Saturday, there were 40 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, up from 38 the week before. There was no one in an ICU, down from three 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 102 people in the hospital as of Dec. 3 (up from 80 a week earlier) and three in intensive care (down from nine).
- Horizon Health: 81 active admissions and three in intensive care, compared to 64 active admissions and eight in intensive care one week ago.
- Vitalité Health: 21 active admissions and no one in intensive care, compared to 16 active admissions and one 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 1,011 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 606 positive PCR tests and 405 rapid tests. That was up from 967 reported positive cases the previous week.
The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 354 new cases, accounting for 35 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) recorded 19 per cent of the new cases.
Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, two per cent were the BA.2 variant, seven per cent were BA.4, and 91 per cent were BA.5.
Vaccine doses
In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 3,394 doses were given out over the past week, including 139 first doses, 118 second doses, 356 first booster doses, and 2,781 second booster doses.
A total of 85.7 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses, 54.3 per cent have received a booster shot, and 27.4 per cent have received their second booster.
According to the two health authorities, 137 health care workers were off the job for COVID-related reasons as of Saturday.
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