New Brunswick is reporting a drop in the number of people admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19, according to the latest weekly COVID report.
There were 21 hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, Sept. 17, compared to 23 the previous week.
No new admissions were reported to any of the province’s intensive care units.
As of Saturday, there were 21 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, down from 35 the week before. There were two people in an ICU, down from four 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 96 people in the hospital as of Sept. 17 (up from 81 a week earlier) and eight in intensive care (down from 12).
- Horizon Health: 71 active admissions and five in intensive care, compared to 57 active admissions and six in intensive care one week ago.
- Vitalité Health: 25 active admissions and three in intensive care, compared to 24 active admissions and six 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 all of the deaths involved people aged 90 and over.
There have now been 480 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
Moncton region remains hotspot for new cases
A total of 1,091 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 586 PCR tests and 505 rapid tests. That was up from 955 reported positive cases the previous week.
The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 382 new cases, accounting for 35 per cent of last week’s total case count.
The Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded 18 per cent of the new cases while the Saint John health region (Zone 2) recorded nearly 26 per cent of the new cases.
Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, one per cent were the BA.2 variant, six per cent were BA.4 and 93 per cent were BA.5.
Vaccine doses
In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 336 doses were given out over the past week, including 190 first doses, 113 second doses, and 33 first booster doses. That is down from 792 doses the previous week.
A total of 85.4 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses and 53.6 per cent have received a booster shot.
According to the two health authorities, 98 health care workers were off the job as of Saturday for COVID-related reasons, down from 147 a week earlier.
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