New Brunswick is seeing more people admitted to hospital as a result of COVID-19, according to the province’s weekly COVID report.
There were 31 hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, compared to 22 the previous week. One of the new admissions involved someone under the age of 10.
Four people were admitted to an intensive care unit in the province, all between the ages of 50 and 79 years old.
As of Saturday, there were 33 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, an increase of 12 from the week before. There were four people in an ICU, up from one 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 99 people in the hospital as of Aug. 27 (down from 113 a week earlier) and five in intensive care (down from seven).
- Horizon Health: 71 active admissions and three in intensive care, compared to 95 active admissions and six in intensive care one week ago.
- Vitalité Health: 28 active admissions and two in intensive care, compared to 18 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.
Four more deaths reported
A total of four deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported over the past week in New Brunswick.
Officials said the deaths involved someone in their 60s. one person in their 70s, one person in their 80s, and one person aged 90 and over.
There have now been 466 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
Moncton region remains hotspot for new cases
A total of 1,398 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 712 PCR tests and 686 rapid tests. That was down from 1,513 reported positive cases the previous week.
The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 464 new cases, accounting for more than 33 per cent of last week’s total case count.
The Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded nearly 28 per cent of the new cases while the Saint John health region (Zone 2) recorded just under 12 per cent of the new cases.
Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, 18 per cent were BA.4 variant and 82 per cent were BA.5.
Just over 800 vaccine doses given
In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 820 doses were given out over the past week, including 258 first doses, 132 second doses, and 430 booster doses.
A total of 88.4 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses and 53.5 per cent have received booster shots.
According to the two health authorities, 209 health care workers were off the job as of Saturday for COVID-related reasons, down from 237 a week earlier.
Comments