New Brunswick saw a spike in COVID-19 hospital admissions between Nov. 12 and 18, according to Public Health.

The latest Respiratory Watch report showed 71 hospitalizations with three people admitted to an intensive care unit.

That was up from the 44 hospitalizations and three ICU admissions reported during the previous week.

Most of the patients — 59 of them — were aged 65 and over. There were also nine people aged 45 to 64, one person aged five to 19, and two people under the age of five.

The ICU admissions all involved people aged 65 and over, according to the weekly report.

Two more patients with COVID died in the hospital during that week, compared to four the previous week. Both were aged 65 and over.

There were 161 new COVID cases reported — up from 122 cases the previous week — and the test positivity rate climbed to 16 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 15 lab-confirmed COVID outbreaks reported, including four in nursing homes, compared to 11 outbreaks the week before.

Reported flu cases spike

Meanwhile, New Brunswick is also reporting an increase in the number of people with influenza.

Public Health said there were 26 cases reported between Nov. 12 and 18, accounting for more than half of the cases so far this season.

Four people were admitted to the hospital, including two to an intensive care unit. Most of the patients involved people aged 65 and over.

Public Health said four new influenza-like illness school outbreaks were reported during that week.