New Brunswick reported an increase in the number of deaths linked to COVID-19 over the past week.

Seven deaths were reported over the past week, according to the latest weekly COVID report released by the Department of Health on Tuesday.

Those deaths include one person in their 60s, two people in their 70s, one person in their 80s, and three people aged 90 and over.

There have now been 628 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.

Hospitalizations and ICU admissions

The number of hospitalizations held steady or increased over the past week, depending on which data you consider.

Public Health said there were 29 new hospital admissions for the week ending Saturday, Dec. 10, compared to 32 the previous week.

There were no new admissions to the province’s intensive care units for the second consecutive week.

As of Saturday, there were 40 people in the hospital because of COVID-19, unchanged from the week before. There was no one in an ICU.

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 130 people in the hospital as of Dec. 10 (up from 102 a week earlier) and seven in intensive care (up from three).

• Horizon Health: 85 active admissions and five in intensive care, compared to 81 active admissions and three in intensive care one week ago.
• Vitalité Health: 45 active admissions and two in intensive care, compared to 21 active admissions and no 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 1,247 positive cases were reported over the past week, including 819 positive PCR tests and 428 rapid tests. That was up from 1,011 reported positive cases the previous week.

The Moncton health region, Zone 1, continues to be the hotspot with 442 new cases, accounting for 35 per cent of last week’s total case count.

The Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded 21 per cent of the new cases while the Saint John health region (Zone 2) recorded nearly 20 per cent of the new cases.

Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, one per cent were the BA.2 variant, four per cent were BA.4, and 95 per cent were BA.5.

Vaccine doses

In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 3,280 doses were given out over the past week, including 140 first doses, 138 second doses, 357 first booster doses, and 2,645 second booster doses.

A total of 85.7 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses, 54.4 per cent have received a booster shot, and 27.9 per cent have received their second booster.

According to the two health authorities, 144 health care workers were off the job for COVID-related reasons as of Saturday, up from 137 workers one week earlier.