The number of New Brunswickers in the hospital with COVID-19 has increased slightly on a week-over-week basis.
Updated figures released by the Horizon and Vitalité health networks show 116 people in the hospital as of Saturday, including seven in intensive care.
That is compared to 114 hospitalizations and four ICU admissions reported by the regional health authorities one week earlier.
- Horizon Health: 90 active admissions and four in intensive care, compared to 84 active admissions and two in intensive care one week ago.
- Vitalité Health: 26 active admissions and three in intensive care, compared to 30 active admissions and two in intensive care one week ago.
According to the figures provided by Horizon, active admissions climbed from 84 to 122 over the course of three days (July 16 to 19) before falling to 90 active admissions on July 23, the most recent date available. Vitalité does not provide a day-by-day breakdown in its weekly update posted online.
The figures reported by the health authorities include those hospitalized for COVID and those with the virus being treated primarily for other conditions. The province only reports the number of patients who were hospitalized for COVID.
The latest weekly COVIDWATCH update from the Department of Health showed 34 people in hospital as of Saturday, an increase of 12. The number of people in an ICU increase from one to three.
There were 40 new hospital admissions for COVID over the past week compared to 30 new admissions the previous week, according to the Department of Health.
In addition, there were three new ICU admissions for COVID-19 over the same period compared to one the week before.
Moncton region the hotspot for new cases
There were 1,967 reported positive cases of COVID-19 over the past week, down from 2,324 cases the previous week. Those figures included 1,029 PCR tests and 938 rapid tests.
The Moncton health region, Zone 1, was the hotspot with 652 new cases, accounting for 33 per cent of last week’s total case count.
The Saint John health region (Zone 2) recorded 21 per cent of the new cases while the Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded about 19 per cent of the new cases.
Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, nine per cent were the BA.2 variant, 20 per cent were BA.4, and 71 per cent were BA.5.
Five more deaths reported
New Brunswick reported five more deaths related to COVID-19 over the past week.
The latest deaths, according to the provincial report, all involve people in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
There have been 443 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
Nearly 1,000 vaccine doses given
In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 970 doses were given out over the past week, including 155 first doses, 208 second doses, and 607 booster doses.
Just over 88 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses and 53 per cent have received booster shots.
According to the two health authorities, 188 health care workers were off the job as of Saturday for COVID-related reasons, down from 229 a week earlier.
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