Virus claims 10 more New Brunswickers, hospitalizations stable, include 4 children under 10

Ten more New Brunswickers who had COVID-19 have died, and the number of new hospital admissions because of the virus more than doubled in the past week, according to Tuesday's update from the government.

Butactive hospitalizations remain stable and the number of people requiring intensive care has dropped, the weekly COVIDWatch report shows.

Four children under age 10 are among those hospitalized.

The province no longer provides information about newCOVID-related deaths, such as their age groups, or which health zones they lived in.

But a comparison of this week's report to last week's reveals the people who died between April 10 and April 16 include a person in their 50s, two in their 60s, two in their 70s, two in their 80s, and three in their 90s.

COVID-19 was "a primary or contributing factor to cause of death as per the attending physician,"thewebsite states.

The latest deaths raise the province's pandemic death toll to378.

The number of new hospital admissions jumped to 102, from 41 the previous week,according to the province'sweb page.

As a result,the seven-day moving average of hospitalizations for COVID-19, including ICU admissions, now stands at 88, up from78.

The number of people currently in hospital because of the virus, however, remains unchanged at 79,including six in ICU, a decrease of seven from the previous report.

Only people hospitalized for COVID are included on the government's replacement for theCOVID-19 dashboard,not people who were initially admitted to hospital for another reason and later test positive for the virus.

Horizon Health Network's new weekly dashboard, which includes both types of patients, won't be updated until Wednesday, because of the holiday Monday, said spokesperson Kris McDavid.

Vitalit Health Network's new weekly dashboard won't be updated until Wednesday either.

"The highest portion of hospitalizations for COVID-19 is among individuals aged 60-79," a government summary states.

"Individuals that are unprotected by vaccine continue to have the highest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 and death."

Among the 15 people admitted to intensive care during this reporting period,one wasin their 30s, onein their 40s, three in their 50s, five in their 60s, three in their 70s, and two in their 80s.

The number of patients on ventilators is no longer provided by Public Health.

A total of 5,645new cases of COVIDhave been recorded in the past week.That includes 2,956 people who tested positive through PCR lab testsand 2,689people who self-reported testing positive on rapid tests.

Based on PCR tests alone, there are now 4,789active cases across the province.

The regional breakdown of the new and activecases includes:

• Moncton region, Zone 1979 new PCR-confirmed cases,902 new rapid test casesand1,589 active cases
• Saint John region, Zone 2551 new PCR-confirmedcases, 557new rapid test casesand 911active cases
• Fredericton region, Zone 3527 new PCR-confirmedcases, 673new rapid test casesand884 active cases
• Edmundston region, Zone 4239 new PCR-confirmedcases, 121new rapid test casesand400 active cases
• Campbellton region, Zone 5103 new PCR-confirmedcases, 48 new rapid test casesand195 active cases
• Bathurst region, Zone 6 344new PCR-confirmedcases, 220new rapid test casesand522 active cases
• Miramichi region, Zone 7213 new PCR-confirmedcases, 168 new rapid test casesand 288active cases

According to the website, 51.8per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have now received their COVID-19 booster dose, up from 51.6per centa week ago, 87.8 per cent have received two doses, upfrom 87.7per cent, and 93.1per cent have received their first dose, upfrom 93 per cent.

New Brunswick has had 58,768 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic with53,601 recoveries, now described as "resolved" cases, so far.