New Brunswick health officials reported nine deaths over the past week attributed to COVID-19.

That is according to the latest weekly COVID report, which includes data from Oct. 16 to 22.

Public Health said the most recent deaths involved three people in their 70s, one person in their 80s, and five people aged 90 and over.

There have now been 585 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.

Hospitalizations remain steady

Officials said the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations remained steady week over week in the province.

There were 29 hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, Oct. 22, unchanged from the previous week.

Among those admitted to the hospital were two people between the ages of 10 and 19.

There were two admissions to the province’s intensive care units — one person in their 20s and one person in their 70s.

As of Saturday, there were 33 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, down from 35 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 136 people in the hospital as of Oct. 22 (down from 139 a week earlier) and eight in intensive care (down from 11).

• Horizon Health: 78 active admissions and six in intensive care, compared to 97 active admissions and nine in intensive care one week ago.
• Vitalité Health: 58 active admissions and two in intensive care, compared to 42 active admissions and two 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 1,186 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 692 positive PCR tests and 494 rapid tests. That was up from 1,362 reported positive cases the previous week.

The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 380 new cases, accounting for 32 per cent of last week’s total case count.

The Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded 22 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, 12 per cent were the BA.4 variant and 88 per cent were BA.5.

Vaccine doses

In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 3,644 doses were given out over the past week, including 107 first doses, 153 second doses, 327 first booster doses, and 3,057 second booster doses.

A total of 85.5 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses, 53.9 per cent have received a booster shot, and 23.4 per cent have received their second booster.

According to the two health authorities, 140 health care workers were off the job for COVID-related reasons as of Saturday, down from 181 a week earlier.