New Brunswick is reporting a drop in COVID-related hospitalizations but an increase in ICU admissions in its latest Respiratory Watch report.

Public Health says there were 35 hospital admissions between Sept. 24 and 30, with five people admitted to an intensive care unit.

That was compared to 58 hospitalizations and two ICU admissions the previous week.

A majority of the patients — 26 of them — were aged 65 and over. There were also five people aged 45 to 64, three people aged 20 to 44, and one person under the age of five.

Four of the ICU admissions involved people aged 65 and over while the fifth was someone aged 20 to 44, according to the report.

Three more patients with COVID died in the hospital during that week. All three were aged 65 and over.

There were 105 new COVID cases reported, with the test positivity rate falling to 12 per cent.

In addition, there were nine lab-confirmed COVID outbreaks reported during the period, down from 15 the previous week.

Health officials recently made changes to how COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations are tracked.

Public Health now defines a COVID death as “a confirmed case who was admitted to hospital and whose death occurred during their stay.”

“A death due to COVID-19 or influenza does not mean that it was necessarily the primary or contributing factor to the cause of death. Therefore, only deaths that occur in hospital will be reported,” said the department.

“Deaths that occur outside of hospital are subject to a reporting lag that can last months, while in-hospital deaths is a more timely indicator for disease severity.”

Hospital figures will now include patients hospitalized for and with COVID, not just those hospitalized because of complications from the disease.

Public Health said that aligns with the current reporting process they have in place for influenza.

“The department recognizes that both types of patients have an impact on the system,” said the statement.