COVID-19 kills 8 more in N.B., new report format provides fewer details

Eight more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19, but how old they were and where they livedcannot be determined from the province's newly formatted COVIDWatch report.

The weekly reports used to indicatethe number of deaths in each age category by increments of 10 years, ranging fromunder 10 to 90 or older, as well as by health region, since the pandemic began.

But the government announced changes to the formatlast Fridayto "better reflect deaths by presenting them based upon the date of death," and to better align with what other provinces are doing, as well aswith other epidemiological reports, such as the flu report.

Under the new template, data only dates back to Aug. 28,the start of the current respiratory virus season,and deaths are broken down into only three age categories under 50, 50-69 and 70 or older.

Some of the other data dropped from the revised format released Tuesdayincludes the age ranges of children and adultsnewly admitted to hospital, the number of people currently hospitalized because of COVID, the seven-day moving average of hospitalizations and the total number of active cases across the province.

'Stabilizing trend'

COVID deaths and hospitalizations "continue to show a stabilizing trend," according tothe report,which coversDec. 11-17.

The number of new lab-confirmed cases has decreased,following a period of general increase, and the positivity rate remains stable, it says.

Dr. Yves Lger, acting chief medical officer of health, was not available for an interview Tuesday.

The report summary indicates seven new deaths have occurred, but notes under one of the graphics that another deathreceived this week occurred prior to Aug. 28, bringing the total to eight and raising theprovince's pandemic death toll to 722.

Deaths are subject to a lag in reporting, with an average of two months between the date of death and receiving the registration of death form at the Vital Statistics branch, the report says.

Since Aug. 28, there have been 95 COVID deaths. Three people were under age 50,nine were between 50 and 69 and the remaining 83 were 70 or older.

Hospital data

Thirty-one people were newly admitted to hospital because of COVID during the week in question, up from 29 in the previous report. Three of the patients requiredintensive care, compared to none for the previous two weeks.

Meanwhile, the two regional health authorities,which countpeople admitted to hospital because of COVID-19, as well as thoseinitially admitted for another reason who later test positive for the virus, say there are 140 people hospitalized, up from 130 a week ago. Six are in intensive care, down from seven.

Horizon Health Network has 91 active COVID-19 admissions as of Saturday, up from 85. Three patients requireintensive care, down from five.

The regional breakdown includes:

• Moncton region, Zone 127
• Saint John region, Zone 220
• Fredericton region, Zone 333
• Miramichi region, Zone 7 11

VitalitHealth Network has 49 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, up from 45, including three in intensive care, up from two.

More than half of theVitalitpatients, 28, are at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont hospitalin Moncton(Zone 1), including one in intensive care, three are at theEdmundston Regional Hospital (Zone 4), three are attheCampbellton Regional Hospital (Zone 5),two are at theTracadie Hospital (Zone 6) and 13 are at theLamque Hospital (Zone 7).

According to COVIDWatch, 426 people have been admitted to hospital because of the virus since Aug. 28. Of those,21 were under 20, which is the youngest age category listed, 68 were between 20 and 59, 75 were between 60 and 69, and262 were 70 or older.

Nearly 150 health-care workers are still off the job after testing positive for COVID-19, the weekly figures show.

Horizon has 81 infected employees,down from 92, whileVitalit has 66 employees who called in sick, up from 52.

The number of COVID outbreaks on hospital units across the province also remains relatively unchanged.

Horizon reports 10outbreak units, the same number as a week ago.These include four in the Moncton region, twoin the Saint John region,three in the Fredericton region and one in the Miramichi region. No other details are provided.

Vitalithas six outbreak units, up from five. These include:theDr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre's geriatric unit (3A), extended care unit (3E) andsurgical unit (orthopedic, plastic, and ear, nose and throat, 4E), the Veteran Health Centre's unit 200,Lamque Hospital's medical unit andTracadie Hospital's medical unit (2ndnorth).

Vitalit'saverage bed occupancy rate is 103 per cent. The three hospitals with the highest occupancyEnfant-Jsus RHSJHospital in Caraquet(142 per cent), Grand Falls General Hospital (130 per cent), andStella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital inSainte-Anne-de-Kent (125 per cent) have no COVID patients.

Those with COVID patients are either near or overcapacity, ranging from 91 per cent in Edmundston to 109 per cent in Moncton, the dashboard shows.

Self-reported rapid tests no longerincluded

There were 647 news cases of COVID confirmed througha PCR (polymerase chain reaction)lab test in the past week, out of 5,560 tests conducted, down from 819 cases in the previous report.

The regional breakdown includes:

• Moncton region, Zone 1212
• Saint John region, Zone 2142
• Fredericton region, Zone 3118
• Edmundston region, Zone 447
• Campbellton region, Zone 5 16
• Bathurst region, Zone 6 72
• Miramichi region, Zone 7 40

Of the 168 most recent random samples sent for genetic sequencing, 95 per cent were the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, and fiveper cent were the Omicron subvariant BA.4.The Department of Health does not provide a further breakdown of sublineages, such as the immune-evasiveBQ.1 and BQ.1.1.

Self-reported positive rapid tests are no longer included in the weekly report because they are "an inaccurate indicator of how many people may be positive," the province has said. They are, however, stillavailable on the COVIDWatch landing page because they are "an indicator of virus spread and potential impact."

A total of 334 people self-reported testing positive with a rapid test, down from 428.

Vaccination status

The Department of Health says 3,018 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered duringthe past week, including 147 first doses, 162 second doses, 321 first booster doses, and 2,388 second booster doses.

The one-dose, two-dose and first-booster vaccination rates remain unchanged at 90.8 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers,85.7 per cent, and 54.4 per cent respectively. A total of 28.4 per cent have now received their second booster, up from 27.9 per cent.

According to the COVIDWatch report, which includes changes to vaccination status categories, the crude death rate since Aug. 28 among those who have completed a primary seriesplustwo or more additional dosesis19.6 per 100,000. Completing a primary series is defined as: cases whose infection occurred14 days or more after second dose in a two-dose series, or 14 days or more after one dose of a one-dose vaccine series, orless than 14 days after a first additional dose.

That death rate ishigher thanamong those who have completed a primary series plus one additional dose (17.3 per 100,000), a primary series (3.3 per 100,000) and the unvaccinated (14.6 per 100,000).

But the report also provides an age-adjusted rates "to account for the differences in age distribution across groups."

Those show the death rate is by far the highest among the unvaccinated at 226.9 per 100,000 person-years, compared to 13.5 for those with a primary series, 19.3 for those with a primary series plus one,and 8.2 for those with a primary series plus two ormore shots.

The hospitalization rates by vaccination status include:

• Unprotected: crude rate of 85.2 per 100,000, age-adjusted rate of643.5 per 100,000 person-years
• Primary series:crude rate of29.4 per 100,000,age-adjusted rate of96.5per 100,000 person-years
• Primary series plus one:crude rate of 66.4 per 100,000,age-adjusted rate of69.7per 100,000 person-years
• Primary series plus two or more:crude rate of 72.5 per 100,000,age-adjusted rate of28.8 per 100,000 person-years

Public Health changed its COVID-19 vaccination status categories following months of review.

It previously defined "protected" as being boosted or fully vaccinated within the last six months, while "unprotected" referredto being fully vaccinated for more than six months, being partially vaccinated or being unvaccinated. That meant people who had received two vaccines and a booster dose more than six months ago were lumpedn in with those who hadn't receiveda single shot.

Because of the upcoming holidays,the nextCOVIDWatch report will be posted on Wed.Jan. 4, and will include two weeks' worth of data, the department advised.

Horizon andVitalit'sweekly updates will resume on Jan. 10, according to theirCOVIDdashboards.