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, two people in their 80s, and three people aged 90 and over.

There have now been 609 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.

COVID hospitalizations, ICU admissions rise

Public Health said the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 climbed over the past week.

There were 24 new hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, Nov. 19, compared to 22 the previous week.

There were eight new admissions to the province’s intensive care units compared to zero the week before.

As of Saturday, there were 32 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, up from 29 the week before. There were six people in an ICU, up from none 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 95 people in the hospital as of Nov. 19 (down from 131 a week earlier) and nine in intensive care (up from two).

• Horizon Health: 72 active admissions and five in intensive care, compared to 98 active admissions and one in intensive care one week ago.
• Vitalité Health: 23 active admissions and four in intensive care, compared to 33 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 739 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 436 positive PCR tests and 303 rapid tests. That was down from 807 reported positive cases the previous week.

The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 239 new cases, accounting for 32 per cent of last week’s total case count.

The Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded nearly 27 per cent of the new cases while the Saint John health region (Zone 2) recorded 16 per cent of the new cases.

Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, two per cent were the BA.2 variant, eight per cent were BA.4, and 90 per cent were BA.5.

Vaccine doses

In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 4,646 doses were given out over the past week, including 166 first doses, 154 second doses, 436 first booster doses, and 3,890 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 26.3 per cent have received their second booster.

According to the two health authorities, 99 health care workers were off the job for COVID-related reasons as of Saturday, up from 79 a week earlier.