New Brunswick has recorded a slight increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions and deaths, according to new data from Public Health.

The latest Respiratory Watch report shows 58 admissions between Oct. 15 and 21, with one person admitted to an intensive care unit.

That was compared to 57 hospitalizations and two ICU admissions the previous week.

A majority of the patients — 49 of them — were aged 65 and over. There were also eight people aged 45 to 65 and one person aged 20 to 44.

The ICU admission involved one patient aged 65 and over, according to Public Health.

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

There were 137 new COVID cases reported — down from 155 cases the previous week — and the test positivity rate fell to 15 per cent.

However, the actual number of new cases is likely much higher as PCR tests are only available when requested by a primary care provider.

In addition, there were 14 lab-confirmed COVID outbreaks reported, similar to the week before.