N.B. reports 5 more COVID-19 deaths, 2 youths among hospital cases

Five more New Brunswickershave died from COVID-19, raising the pandemic death toll to 485, the province reported Tuesday.

The latest deaths include one person in their 60s, two in their 70s, one in their 80s, and one 90 or older, according to theCOVIDWatchreportfor Sept. 18 to Sept. 24.

The number of New Brunswickers hospitalized for or with COVID-19 in the past week has remained stable at 95, compared to 96 a week ago, according to theprovince'stwo regional health authorities.

But theVitalit Health Network saw a 48 per cent jump in its number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized, while the Horizon Health Network saw an 18 per cent decrease, their weekly COVID dashboards show.

Vitalithas37patients hospitalized as of Saturday, up from 25 the previous week, with threein intensive care, unchanged,according to itsdashboard.

Horizonhas58 active COVID-19 hospitalizations, down from 71, including fourpeople in intensive care, down fromfive.

Public Health reports the number of hospitalizations because of COVID-19 has decreased to 19 as of Saturday, compared to 21 the previous week. Unlike the regional health authorities, itreports only people hospitalized because of the virus, not those initially admitted for another reason who later tested positive.

Two people require intensive care, unchanged, according to the province.

The number of people newly admitted to hospital for COVID-19 has also decreasedthis week to 18, compared to 21 a week ago, Public Health reports.

Even though younger kids tend to be less at risk of those more severe outcomes, we know that it does happen, and so our numbers reflect that.- Yves Lger, acting deputy chief medical officer of health

Among the new admissions is a child under 10 and a youth aged 10 to 19, the COVIDWatch report shows.

The others include a person in their 30s, a person in their 50s, three people in their 60s, three in their 70s, six in their 80s and two 90 or older.

Any hospitalizations are "cause for concern," regardless of the age, said Dr. Yves Lger, acting deputy chief medical officer of health.

"We do know that even though younger kids tend to be less at risk of those more severe outcomes, we know that it does happen, and so our numbers reflect that. We see that we have younger children who are impacted by COVID and at times require hospitalization," he said.

"And so I think it's important for New Brunswickers to recognize that COVID is still in our communities and does present a risk, and why it's, again, important for us to continue to adopt those measures to protect us from COVID, which includes making sure we're up to date on our vaccines."

The highest portion of hospitalizations for COVID-19 is among peopleaged 70 to 89, the report states.

"Individuals that are unprotected by vaccine continue to have the highest rate of COVID-19 ICU admissions," said Departmentof Health spokesperson Adam Bowie.

The report initially indicated those unprotected by vaccine also have the highest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19, but was revised after CBC pointed out the data actually shows the rate among the "protected" ishigher at 197.8 per 100,000 since Dec. 5, compared to 194.9.

Definitions of protectedvs. unprotectedunder review

The province is reviewing its definitions of protectedand unprotected,as they do not include people who have some protection from a previous infection, saidLger.

Protectedcurrently refers to boosted or fully vaccinated less than six months. Unprotected currently refers to fully vaccinated more than six months, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated.

"So we'll be revising that term probably in the coming weeks to months," saidLger.

"But certainly we know that, with the evidence that we have now accumulated across Canada and across the world really on how vaccines work, we know that they are effective and work very well at reducing the risk of severe outcomes of hospitalizations and deaths."

The rate of ICU admissions among the unprotected is42.4 per 100,000 since Dec. 5, compared to25.6 among the protected.

The vaccination rateamong the deceasedsince Dec. 5 is49.5 per 100,000 protected and 39.5 unprotected, according to the report.

A total of 53.7 per centof eligible New Brunswickers have received their first booster, up from 53.6 per cent last week,and 21.6per cent have received their second booster, up from20.9 per cent.

The first- and second-dose rates remain unchanged from last week at90.5 per centand 85.4 per cent respectively.

Moncton zone has most new cases

Fewer new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past week, at 930, compared to1,091.That includes those confirmed with a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab test and people who self-reported testing positive on a rapid test.

The number of PCR-confirmed cases has remained "stable," at 558, compared to 586.

Of those, 10 werechildren under 10 and five were youths aged 10 to 19.

The Moncton region, Zone 1, continues to have the largest share of the new cases, at 199. The distribution of the other cases includes:

• Saint John region, Zone 2, 85
• Fredericton region, Zone 3, 151
• Edmundston region, Zone 4, 39
• Campbellton region, Zone 5, 13
• Bathurst region, Zone 6, 35
• Miramichi region, Zone 7, 36

Although the province has made it easier for people to obtain rapid tests, only372 new cases were self-reported through positive rapid test results, down from 505 the previous week.

People no longer need to have COVID symptoms to qualify for a rapid test kit, and the kits areavailable for pickup at more locations, particularly in rural areas, includinglibraries or municipal offices, the province announced last week.

Thenumber of appointments for rapid test kits more than doubled across the province in the past week, compared to the first week of September, the department spokesperson said, without providingthe numbers.

"However, it should be noted that following an initial spike in appointment bookings, the demand for rapid POCTs has since slowed down and there are plenty of appointments available throughout the province," Bowiesaid in an email.

The distribution of the self-reported positive rapid testcases includes:

• Moncton region, Zone 1, 127
• Saint John region, Zone 2, 57
• Fredericton region, Zone 3, 150
• Edmundston region, Zone 4, 15
• Campbellton region, Zone 5, five
• Bathurst region, Zone 6, seven
• Miramichi region, Zone 7, 11

There are now 769 active cases of COVID across the province, based on PCR-confirmed cases alone, down from 843 a week ago.

"Overall, [this week's deaths, hospitalizations and casesshow] a very similar picture to what we've seen last week, and shows an overall positive trend since the previous couple of weeks," said Lger.

Of the most recent random samples sent for sequencing, 91 per cent were the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, seven per cent were the Omicron subvariant BA.4, and the other two per cent were Omicron subvariant BA.2.

New Brunswick has had 77,460 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, with 76,206of those now considered resolved.

RHA hospitalizations, outbreaks, infectedstaff

Of the 37Vitalitpatients, 30 are at theDr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, including two of the patients in ICU. The hospital is listed at 101 per cent capacity.

Fivepatients are at theEdmundston Regional Hospital, which has a 94 per cent bed occupancy, and the remaining two patients, one of whom requires intensive care, are at Bathurst's Chaleur Regional Hospital, which is overcapacity at 103 per cent.

The distribution of the Horizon patients includes:

• Moncton region, Zone 1 16
• Saint John region, Zone 2 14
• Fredericton region, Zone 3 14
• Miramichi region, Zone 7 14

Vitalit has two new COVID-19 outbreaks at theDr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton onthegeneral surgical unit (4A) and the psychiatry unit (4B), along with ongoing outbreaks on the geriatric unit (3A), rehabilitation unit (3F),and the nephrologyunit (4F). There is also an ongoing outbreak on the care unit at the Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital inSainte-Anne-de-Kent.

Horizon has 12 COVID-19 hospital outbreak units, including fourin the Moncton region, Zone 1, threein the Saint John region, Zone 2, threein the Fredericton region, Zone 3, and twoin the Miramichi region, Zone 7. No other details are provided.

The number of COVID-positive health-care workers off the job at Vitalit has been cut inhalf to 26, while Horizon has seen a 39 per cent jump, with 64 staff absences, up from 46 in the previous report.